


Grand Line Academy: Killing Game

by Lunachu



Series: Danganronpa x One Piece [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Asexual Monkey D. Luffy, Asexual Trafalgar Law, Attempt at Humor, Attempted Murder, Blood and Injury, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kidnapping, Law is stressed out, Luffy Being Luffy, Luffy Is a Little Shit, M/M, Minor Eustass Kid/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Minor Nami/Nefertari Vivi, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot Twists, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Swordfighting, Trauma, hancock/luffy is onsided
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:48:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26982400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunachu/pseuds/Lunachu
Summary: “If this is a killing game then we may not all come out alive.” Robin added.“Don’t say that so casually!” Usopp yelled.“I’m never gonna go home,” Shirahoshi began to cry with Vivi trying to comfort her.Killer tried to speak up next.“Maybe we should just all calm down-”“FIGHT AGAINST THE MACHINE!” Kid yelled next before smashing a vase on the ground. Luffy looked almost ready to join in.“STOP!” Caesar yelled, “Stop talking you idiot kids and listen to me! You’re all here to participate in a killing game.” He took a deep breath as all of the students just watched on as he continued his mental breakdown.16 students and 1 teacher are sent to attend Grandline Academy as they all have been chosen for their Ultimate Talents. However, they instead wake up to a hotel where they learn they will be trapped until one can successfully murder another student or faculty member. With no other way out, the killing game will soon begin.With Law, Luffy, and many other one piece characters fighting against a replaced Monokuma known as Caesar Clown.(Smol hiatus until end of March)
Relationships: Boa Hancock/Monkey D. Luffy onsided, Eustass Kid/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Kaya/Usopp (One Piece), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Nami/Nefertari Vivi, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji, Usopp/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: Danganronpa x One Piece [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972567
Comments: 61
Kudos: 97





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the players of this game

Pain seared through Law’s head. His brows furrowed from the harsh sensation, which only continued as he tried to open his eyes. Needles of pain poked and prodded at the slightest movement of his head. The bright lights his eyes opened too were not helping his growing migraine as well. 

“Oi, are you awake?” a girl’s voice rang out.

I am now, Law thought immediately but he found his throat to be too dried up to actually respond. 

He groaned as he attempted to sit upwards. His brain swished around with each movement, as though it had been put through a blender. With his foggy thoughts and not so adjusted vision, he tried to focus on where the girl that had spoken to him was located. 

“Can you see me?” the girl's voice spoke again, sounding much more annoyed than concerned. 

Finally Law’s haze subsided and he was able to focus on a girl sitting on a desk in front of him. She had long bright pink hair with a weird green beanie on top, as well as a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves with some suspenders that connected to her brown shorts and black stockings with the standard school shoes. She had an anti-brow under her left eye. A very … unique fashion choice if Law had anything to say about it.

Law’s head still throbbed as he scanned his surroundings. They seemed to be in a bedroom? A hotel bedroom given the customer service phone on the side of the desk the girl was sitting on, as well as the two beds on the other side. For some reason there seemed to be two tv screens with one significantly smaller.

“Where-“

“I don’t know.” she cuts him off immediately, again in annoyance, as if speaking to him wasn’t worth the effort.

Law noted her easy irritability.

“All I know is that I woke up on that bed and saw a random guy with a coat sleeping on the ground.” she glared. Why is acting as though this is my fault? Law wondered to himself. 

Laws attentioned turned towards the two doors on the left side of the room. One possibly leading to the outside and the other a bathroom.

The girl noticed this and added, “Oh yeah, the second door is locked by the way. The bathroom works fine.”

Law took a second glance to see that it didn’t have a normal lock but was an electronic one instead. So, it’s more than likely possible you’re able to lock from inside and outside if you had whatever key was being used for it.

No point in wondering about that for right now, Law decided before getting up and turning to face the pink haired girl.

“Who are you?” 

“Jewelry Bonney, you?” she said this as she pulled out a random chicken drumstick from seemingly nowhere and began to eat it.

“Trafalgar Law,” Law decided not to comment on her food. “Did you also come to Grandline Academy?”

Law could remember vaguely his travel to get to his new school he had enrolled in. An academy that took only the best students of an individual field in order to help cultivate their talents to bring upon a new better future. 

Law could recall how he suddenly found himself in front of the academy that he said over and over he would not attend. Only for everything after that moment to go completely dark for him. There was a high possibility he could have been drugged but Law had nothing to work with from what he knew. 

“Yeah, I came to the school with the title, ‘Ultimate Competitive Eater,’” Bonney said, now seeming very smug about it.

That explains the random food, Law noted.

“What about you? What’s your talent?” Bonney asked between bites of her food.

“‘Ultimate Surgeon’ I guess,” Law only shrugged.

“‘I guess’?” she raised an eyebrow.

Law sighed, “I performed it as an emergency a few times but it’s rather absurd to give that kind of title to a 17 year-old high school student.” 

Bonney only stared at him in boredom now, still eating. “Explains the lab coat I guess.”

Law didn’t remember putting on a lab coat. He looked down and yes indeed he had on a white lab coat over a black dress shirt, with its sleeves rolled up and his regular black spotted blue jeans. 

“Last thing I remember is coming to the school and now I’m here with you. I’ve tried kicking down the door but that didn’t seem to work.” Bonney said, kicking her legs back and forth on the desk now.

“You tried kicking the door down?” Law asked.

How had he not woken up by the sound of that? Well, it has been a while since he had a proper night's rest, Law concluded. The plane ride and his dreaded insomnia hadn’t exactly helped too. 

“Ya, and I was this close to trying to see if I could climb from the window.” Bonney said. “What floor is this?” Law asked, turning around. His eyes squinted at first from the bright, morning light that shined from the floor to ceiling window. 

“Probably around ten to twenty.” Bonney said, continuing to eat what was now another chicken drumstick. Just where was she getting this food from, Law wondered. 

“That’s a big gap in your estimation.” Law said, taking a look for himself. She only shrugged.

There was no balcony to step out into and it being a floor to ceiling window, it only seemed reasonable that it wouldn’t open. It only took one look to conclude, yes where they stood was most likely a hotel as there was an entire resort surrounding them. A huge forest that surrounded the front of the hotel, out beyond seemed to be some closed off areas with one looking like an amusement park in the distance. 

Law was busy taking a closer look, noticing something odd about his surroundings, when a short guy’s body slammed against the window. 

Law flinched while Bonney full on screamed and fell off the desk in shock. 

The boy had his hands held to the ledge, which Law assumed he must have fell and grabbed onto the ledge in order to stop. The guy seemed dazed for a second before perking up, looking curiously at Law and Bonney. The guy gave a big grin as though he wasn’t in danger of falling to his death.

Law’s brain finally caught to speed. He began to wave to the guy to move towards the right side of the ledge, which he complied. Law immediately grabbed the desk’s wooden chair. 

“Wait, what are you doing!?” Bonney yelled, “Shouldn’t we-”

“Would you want to be left hanging out there?” Law shot back. Law threw the chair with as much force as he could manage. It only made a crack in the glass. 

“Shit,” Law muttered, grabbing the chair again. 

“Hurry!”

Law bit back his snide comment towards Bonney before throwing the chair once again. This time it broke it enough to make a large enough hole. 

Law gripped the wall next to him as he leaned out to help the guy, who Law’s now noticed had a straw hat hanging on to his back. Law was fully prepared to give the straw hat guy courage to climb towards him, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. He didn’t seem to mind straight up throwing himself at Law when he was close enough to the hole in the window. 

Law could feel his head pounding again as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. Being so close to the edge like that hadn’t sit too well with Law. 

Meanwhile the straw hat guy stood up without a fuss, laughing, “Thank you for helping!” 

Law was pulled up by the guy’s hand while Law finally got a better look at him. He had sort of messy black hair and a scar under his left eye. He wore a short sleeved dress shirt that was left mostly opened and slightly baggy red pants. Again, he left Law utterly confused at how he was grinning so proudly after being so close to death. 

“Just what the hell were you doing?!” Bonney yelled, pulling herself up from where she had fallen off the desk.

“Climbing down, cause the door wouldn’t open up.” the straw hat guy answered as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oi, weren’t you suggesting just that not two seconds ago?” Law gave Bonney a look. 

“Not after seeing how high we were!”

The straw hat guy seemed to be checked out of the rest of the conversation as he walked back towards the broken window. He put his hands on either side of the glass that wasn’t broken, leaning outwards, stretching his head upwards as he yelled, “Zoroooo! It’s cool to come down now!”

“Get away from the damn window!” Law yelled as both him and Bonney grabbed on to his arms, pulling him away from the window. “The last thing we need is for you to fall again!” Bonney scolded. 

“I didn’t fall,” the straw hat guy raised an eyebrow, “ I was climbing!” 

“Smacking your face into the window is not what I call climbing,” Law muttered under his breath. 

“Luffy!” a deep voice called out before a green haired man slammed against the window that same way the straw hat guy did. 

Bonney yelped as they both dropped the straw hat guy in surprise. 

Instead of just landing against it, it broke all the way, letting the green hair man landing on the carpet floor with broken glass scattered. The man got up rather fast for having just crashed through a window. He didn’t even bother taking a look at the small cuts that literted his body. 

“Ahh, you should have warned me about the broken window Luffy.” the green haired guy said in an annoyed tone.

“Sorry Zoro,” Luffy replied, not looking sorry at all. 

“Why would you two do that?” Bonney asked, exasperated. 

“To climb down,” Zoro said, “Obviously.” 

Bonney’s mouth hung open and she turned away, seemingly giving up, muttering, “These complete idiots. Men are so stupid. How has humanity survived this long?”

Law decided to let her be as his medical instincts kicked in. “We should bandage those cuts you have.” Law said, looking around for any kind of first aid kit.

“I’ll live.” Zoro replied with a shrug.

“Licking it should be fine,” Luffy claimed. 

“No, licking cuts is not fine.” Law said, getting agitated. 

“Alright! We have, I think …?” Luffy stopped, pressing his lips together as he thought, “18 more floors to go!” 

Law could have sworn his brain crashed. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Zoro said looking off the edge of the window. “How many floors do you think we will take out this time?” Luffy asked. 

This time?! Law could feel his left eye twitching. 

“I bet I can do five.” Zoro smirked. 

Luffy took that as a challenge and grinned with full confidence as he said, “I can do ten!” 

“Hold on a minute!” Law finally managed to get his words out, “You two are not going to do that again!”

“Do you have a better idea on how to get out?” Zoro asked.

“Yeah, waiting around is boring.” Luffy whined. 

Law didn’t have a response for that, but luckily Bonney did. 

“Maybe if you idiots would pay attention,” The three guy’s all looked over to her. “You would have noticed that the door’s unlocked already.” 

Bonney stood next to the door that was wide open. 

“Oh cool!” Luffy exclaimed. “Let’s see if they got anything to eat here!”

“Thank god,” Law muttered as Luffy ran out of the room, with everyone else walking out. 

It only took one minute before Luffy came back to the three of them, after running randomly trying to find an exit. 

“Did you two also get chosen for Grandline Academy too?” Bonney asked Zoro and Luffy. 

“Yep!” Luffy said, “My name is Monkey D. Luffy! They named me as the Ultimate Luckiest Student.” 

Law would have thought lucky wouldn’t even begin to describe Luffy but he had just seen Zoro also do the same feats as him. 

“My name is Roronoa Zoro. They named me the Ultimate Swordsmen.” Zoro said, seemingly annoyed at his own title. 

Bonney called this out fast, “Huh? You also don’t like your title like this brooding guy over here?” 

Law only narrowed his eyes at her in response but said nothing. 

“I’m not the Ultimate Swordsmen yet.” Zoro said, “I will be one day after I beat Dracule Mihawk.” 

Bonney only sighed, “Why do you guys have to be so technical with your names for? You’re being recognized!” 

Law was no longer engaged in the conversation. He was more focused on the fact that it seemed that no one else was in the hotel and the only one’s here were students just coming to the academy. It was very suspicious but there was hardly anything that Law could work with to come up with an explanation for their situation. 

“Oiiii!” 

Law looked over to see Luffy trying to get his attention. “Yes?”

“What’s your name?” Luffy asked. Law noticed that all three of them had been looking at him. It seemed Bonney had already given her introduction.

“Trafalgar Law, they put my title as the Ultimate Surgeon.”

“Tra- Traf- …” Luffy’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration before lighting up, exclaiming, “Torao! A surgeon that’s amazing!” 

Law’s never heard anyone butcher his name that badly but didn’t comment on it. “I’m not an actual surgeon Mugiwara-ya.” 

Luffy didn’t seem fazed by the nickname either as he said, “Huh? That’s-” 

A loud sound that sounded like a doorbell chime rang through the hotel stopping them in our tracks. A strange voice rang out through the hotel, more than likely through speakers, saying, “All students and faculty, please report to the front desk of the hotel. We have a special announcement waiting for you.” It ended with an even stranger laugh. 

“Students and faculty?” Zoro asked. 

“So there are other people in the hotel.” Law thought aloud, “Not just students either.”

“So everyone from the academy is probably here right?” Bonney asked

. “Only one way to find out,” Zoro said as they entered the elevator to take them down. 

Bonney and Luffy discussed in full length how one could out eat the other while Zoro seemed to be falling asleep … standing up. Law contemplated what could have possibly happened for all students from the same academy to end up at the same place with no recollection on how they got here. There’s no way they had all gotten black out drunk and just ended up here. No, there was something missing. Law didn’t know how, but he knew that there were missing memories, but it seemed very implausible that everyone’s exact memory of getting here would be erased.

“You sure think a lot.” 

Law’s attention turned back to Luffy, “And you don’t seem to think at all.” 

Law inwardly cringed at his words, he hadn’t meant for it to come out so aggressive. His headache from earlier was still prominent and the lack of knowledge of his situation was beginning to get to him. Law knew that getting agitated was going to get him nowhere, so he tried to back track his words. 

“Why are you so fucking rude?” Bonney jumped in before Law could get the words out, launching into a full rant about his lack manners. 

Very rich coming from you, Law thought. 

Luffy had only laughed in response, seemingly ignorant? No, it was more than he didn’t mind what Law had said. Law found himself staring curiously at Luffy when the elevator stopped.

The elevator’s door opened unexpectedly to two people, an orange haired girl with a yellow schemed school uniform with a blue haired girl with a pink schemed school uniform that looked closer to a dress.

“Oh thank god there’s other girls here.” Bonney said exasperated. 

“That sounds about right.” the orange haired girl said as they entered the elevator with them. 

“Did everyone wake up in a room with another person?” the blue haired girl asked. 

“Yeah, I woke up with this guy.” Zoro responded pointing at Luffy. The four of them introduced themselves before the two girls did, the orange haired girl going first.

“My name is Nami, they named me the Ultimate Meteorologist.” Nami grinned proudly.

“My name is Nefertari Vivi. My title is the Ultimate Princess.” Vivi said with a sweet smile.

“A princess?” Bonney and Luffy asked. 

“Of Alabasta correct?” Law spoke up. 

“Yes!” Vivi said, lighting up at this, “Have you ever visited?”

“No sorry, I have not.” Law responded. 

“Wow Torao, you’re smart.” Luffy said, “I didn’t even know an Alabasta existed.” 

“You would know if you watched politics in general.” Law said. 

“Don’t be so rude!” Nami glared at Luffy, looking very close to smacking him upside the head. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Vivi said, calming Nami down just as the elevator opened. 

“Get your asses back here!” 

A guy sprinted past the elevator door. Following just behind the first guy was a short boy with a pink hat crying. Before Law or anyone else could react a blonde guy sprinted after them yelling a myriad of curses. 

“That looks like fun!” Luffy said as he leapt out to go follow. 

The rest walked out of the elevator in a much calmer manner now seeing three other girls were in the hotel’s lobby area. Law would have said two of the women were rather tall, almost being his own height, if it weren’t for the the third girl who obviously would have trouble fitting through most door frames. 

The tallest girl had bright pink hair, wore a flowy yellow dress shirt with a bright pink pleated skirt. She fidgeted, darting her eyes from person to person, before it broke into a smile of relief as she said, “Vivi!” 

“Shirahoshi!” Vivi responded back with the same enthusiasm, running to hug the much taller girl.

“I haven’t seen you in forever!” They continued to talk as the second girl that seemed to match Law’s height turned to him. 

She had long, dark black hair, bright blue eyes, and wore a school uniform that was dark red, her top slightly opened, paired with long black stockings. Her expression turned from disinterested to straight up disgust as she pulled her head back so far her chest pointed upwards. She pointed directly at Law as though pointing down at him. 

“You!” she yelled, “Tell me where we are this insistent!” 

Now Law recognized her. 

Her name was Boa Hancock, known for her modeling and her strong leadership position at a feminist organization. He had met her once at a hospital event where the staff had decided it’d be a great idea to have the two be recognized at the same time for their encouragement of stem careers for younger children. They had been in the same room for an entire day with their conversation never going past, “Trafalgar.” “Boa-ya.” 

“I’m just as in the dark as you are.” Law responded nonchalantly. 

“It seems we all are.” a woman shorter than Hancock but still rather tall spoke up. She had brown eyes and dark hair that was pushed back. She wore a white dress shirt, with a small purple scarf tied under the collar, as well some black slacks and heels. 

“Good evening, my name is Nico Robin, but you can call me Ms. Nico.” she smiled to the group. “It seems you all are also students that will be attending Grandline Academy?” 

“Yeah, we’re also students.” Nami spoke first, “This is where the front desk is right? Where the loud speaker told us to go?” 

“Yes, but we should probably gather everyone else.” Ms. Nico said, “However, everyone seems rather-”

Another loud crash and screech from in the left side of the lobby which led to a long hallway. It was also the same place where the three guy’s and Luffy had run towards. 

“Preoccupied.” Ms. Nico finished. 

“Everyone, this is Shirahoshi, she's the Ultimate Swimmer.” Vivi said while the pink haired girl only looked embarrassed. 

“Nice to meet you a-”

“Doctor!” a voice yelled from the left again, “Doctor! Where’s a doctor!?” 

Law instantly ran over to the left to see a large dining hall with large sections to place and receive food. Behind those sections was a large kitchen where four people could be seen. Luffy was busy stuffing an excessive amount of food into his mouth, a smaller boy with a pink hat who was failing above another guy with a long nose, who was passed out. There also stood a rather angry looking blonde guy, his bangs covering his left eye, and the other eye having a swirly brow. 

Law reached the smaller boy only when the guy who seemed to be passed out woke up again. 

“I swear it wasn’t me! I have a can’t-break-open-a-fridge disease.” he said before pretending to pass out again. 

“I don’t wanna hear that bullshit from you!” the blonde yelled before turning to Luffy, “And you! Stop eating the whole damn stock! Some of that isn’t even cooked!” 

Luffy only stared back in silence as he continued to stuff his face. 

“STOP EATING!” the blonde then smacked the back of Luffy’s head with his foot, making Luffy spit some food out of his mouth. 

I wish I still drugged up in the hotel room, Law thought to himself. 

“It wasn’t us Sanji!” the smaller boy said, looking like he was gonna cry again. 

“Then who did Chopper!?” 

“Oh, it was me.” a voice said from behind Law. 

They turned their attention to a muscular guy with a black blazer and white opened dress shirt with a red bead necklace. He had dark black hair that was covered by a giant orange cowboy hat and freckles that were spread around his face. He stood casually chopping on a large piece of meat. 

“Ace!” Luffy yelled before partially launching himself at the other black haired guy. Luffy nearly toppled him over in the process of his full body hug. 

“Luffy!” Ace grinned back with the same amount of enthusiasm. 

Their reunion seemed cut short once Sanji said, “So … you’re the one who broke open the fridge, putting all this food in danger of spoiling.” 

Ace only held Luffy in the hug as he turned to Sanji and grinned, “Yeah! Sorry about that, but we were all starving. So I asked Kid if he could fix it after I broke it and he said he would. I don’t know where he went though.” 

Sanji’s face instantly reverted from his enraged expression to a calm one, “Ah, I see. I’ll go see where Kid is then.” 

How the hell did that work? Law really felt as though he should stop questioning things by this point, nothing would ever make sense anyways. 

“No need, I got the tools finally.” a muscular red haired guy with his sleeves of his black uniform ripped off. He was followed by a blue and white masked guy who had very long hair from the back.

Law immediately knew he did not like him. He set off too one to many alarms. 

“Will all students and faculty report to the front desk of the hotel now.” 

The voice of the speaker sounded a hell of a lot more pissed than the cheerful announcement from before. Everyone seemed completely prepared to just ignore the voice on the speaker and it seemed the voice knew this too. 

“If you brats aren’t at the front desk in two minutes, food privileges will be gone for two days.” the voice speaker added. 

Ace and Luffy immediately froze at that and began to run back towards the hotel lobby yelling, “I’ll die if that happens!” 

With the way Luffy had been eating, Law wouldn’t be surprised. He did note that the threat had been a strange one, even if it was being said a joke, which Law doubted. 

The rest continued their way back to the hotel lobby. Law could now finally see just how many students there actually were now. About 8 girls and 9 guys filled the hotel lobby all murmuring to one another questions of what was going on.

Law decided to stick closer to Zoro, Luffy and Ace, and avoid Kid, who seemed to be giving him a look he couldn’t decipher. 

A strange laugh erupted from the hotel desk, silencing the room.

A large puff of smoke erupted from the front desk, causing most to cough from it. When it cleared the students saw a large man with long purple hair, white paper like skin, and wore one of the ugliest jumpsuits Law’s ever seen. 

The man let out another strange laugh that made Law question if the laugh was being faked or not just from how ridiculous it sounded. The man grinned with his purple lips and began to talk in a condescending tone.

“Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful sleep,” 

Law nearly shuttered from just how creepy the guy seemed. He talked to them as if they were all five being told what one plus one is. 

“You hideous male!” Hancock suddenly spoke up, pointing at him with her signature pose, “Tell me who you are right now!” 

The ugly jumpsuit guy seemed annoyed by plastered back on his fake ‘gentle’ condescending look.

“Why, my name is Caesar Clown and welcome to the New World Hotel where you Ultimate students, and teacher, shall be staying for the remainder of your days!”

“Huh?!” Ace said.

“What are you talking about?” Shirahoshi asked in a fearful tone.

“There’s no way he’s serious.” Bonney muttered with her hands crossed. 

“You all came from Grandline Academy, to participate in the first ever Killing Game!” Caesar said again with his strange laughter. 

Now everyone was throwing out questions, getting riled up. 

“What kind of a game is that.” Luffy said, almost looking disappointed at the type of game. 

“What the hell is that?” Nami yelled. 

“Yow! This sounds ridiculous!” a guy with a strange hairdo and buck teeth yelled.

“I wanna go back home.” Chopper said. 

Caesar only looked at them calmly as he said, “You will not-” 

“Where are my other pets?” a blonde girl asked, “I could only find Yomo, Keith, Milky, Musatobi, Blackback, Faust-”

“How many pets do you have woman?!” Zoro yelled after nearly getting his face smacked by a bird flying about. 

“Don’t you hurt her, you moss head!” Sanji yelled and started to kick at Zoro who fought back.

“I wasn’t attacking her! Her bird attacked me!” 

“Well, you all will-” Caesar attempted to continue. 

“How dare you face me!” Hancock yelled when Caesar glanced towards, looking rather offended, “And you will do well to get me back to the Academy this instant!”

Didn’t she just say for him not to look at her? Law really needs to find a medical office somewhere here to take something for his ever growing headache. It seemed Caesar was going to need one too due to each interruption putting him more and more on the edge of breaking his calm and condescending facade. 

“If this is a killing game then we may not all come out alive.” Mrs. Nico added.

“Don’t say that so casually!” Usopp yelled. 

“I’m never gonna go home,” Shirahoshi began to cry with Vivi trying to comfort her.

The long blonde hair guy tried to speak up next.

“Maybe we should just all calm down-”

“FIGHT AGAINST THE MACHINE!” Kid yelled next before smashing a vase on the ground. Luffy looked almost ready to join in. 

“STOP!” Caesar yelled, “Stop talking you idiot kids and listen to me! You’re all here to participate in a killing game.” He took a deep breath as all of the students just watched on as he continued his mental breakdown.

“No you can’t go home,” Caesar mocked Chopper and Shirahoshi, “There’s only one way for you to go home now.” 

A screen of a small tv that had seemed to be placed almost everywhere Law had been so far turned on beside him. It showed images of faceless people in a row. 

“The only way out is for you to win the killing game. In other words, kill another student or faculty member.” Caesar added as the one of the faceless people was stabbed by another. 

“This can be done by stabbing, drowning, poisoning, hanging, choking, you name it. As long as the student is killed, any way of murdering is allowed here.” Caesar said. 

For once a chilling silence fell over the students. 

“I shall be acting as your Game Master during this game.” Caesar added on, “As you may have noticed cameras and tv screens fill all the rooms in the hotel here. Not just here but outside as well with all the other facilities. This is in order to ensure that I know the correct person who committed the crime and give announcements for such.” 

Other than that, what good is a game master for this kind of game?, Law thought to himself. Despite how gruesome and inhuman it sounded, it was rather too simplistic. 

“Don’t think this is all though.” Caesar said, “Once three or more students have discovered the body, an investigation will start. This is where you collect evidence on who the killer might be. After which a class trial will be held to debate and conclude on whodunnit.” 

The screen showed the faceless people standing around in stands, looking a lot like a courtroom. 

“If you choose the right person as the killer, then only the killer is punished, after all it is still a crime.” 

A faceless person with an X on their face got pointed at and dragged away off the screen. 

“But if you choose the wrong person …” This time a different faceless person was picked without the X on their face. “Everyone but the killer will be punished and they will be allowed to go home!” 

All the faceless people but the one with an X mark were dragged off screen with the X marked person cheering. 

There it is, it’s not enough to just kill a person but to get away with it, Law thought. He didn’t want to think if there was a possibility of someone actually doing that here. He didn’t know them well enough to judge something that extreme. It left them in a pure guessing game for who could kill or be killed. 

“Now all of you received your student ID handbooks correct?” Caesar continued as if what he had just said previously was not still processing in the student’s mind. 

Everyone looked around hesitantly if anyone had indeed received one.

“No, what is that?” Luffy spoke not showing a hint of unease at the situation. 

“Are you- ugh!,” Caesar looked down before pulling up a box, “Well these were supposed to be given out before you were awake but whatever.” He then practically dumped the box in our direction, spilling all the electronic devices in front of the students. Each had a different name attached to it. 

“You should keep hold on to those, it reminds you of the rules placed here, the time, access to certain areas of the hotel and it’s facilities, as well as each one being able to only unlock your assigned room.” Caesar said as the students began to sort through the pile. 

“All the doors lock automatically at 10pm which is all your bedtimes! No one is allowed to roam past 10pm and don’t worry about being killed at night. They’re very secured-”

“Ha! Those locked doors are the least bit secured.” Kid smirked, crossing his arms, and holding his chest high, “Opening them was like child’s play.”

“Smashing the door open is not child’s play!” Caesar partially screeched before rubbing his head in exasperation, “You’ve all been here for less than 24 hours and you’ve already broken two windows, a door, the fridge, and threw chairs out the windows.”

Caesar gave a pointed look at Law and Luffy, “You two throw another chair out the window and I swear-”

“Wait a goddamn minute!” Kid yelled angrily, “You’re the two morons who threw those chairs!?” 

“Yeah.” Law and Luffy responded, both looking rather disinterested.

“You nearly killed me! TWICE!” Kid yelled, getting closer to them. “Both chairs almost landed on him while we were outside.” the long blonde haired guy added for clarification. 

Luffy’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why are you standing in the one place for so long? That’s really stupid of you.”

Law’s face nearly broke into a grin.

If keyboard smashes could translate to sound, that’s exactly what sound Kid made through his shocked and angered expression. 

“Stop going off track!” Caesar yelled again, getting their attention, “And you all will show me some respect.” 

No one responded to this. The only one who came close was Luffy with a grumpy expression plastered on his face.

“FINE! If you all don’t wanna listen to what I have to say, you can read the handbook. Don’t blame me when you realize you’ve broken a rule and get punished for it! But remember this, any one of you can betray and backstab to win this game. If you want out of here alive, you best start plotting the perfect murder. It’s game time everyone!”

With that, another puff of smoke engulfed Caesar and he disappeared from sight. 

The last reminder brought back a dread filled tension among the students. Not one knowing exactly what to do next with their given options. 

Would anyone even come looking for them?, Law asked himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost posted this first chapter without editing-
> 
> Also all deaths and killers are pre-planned, sorry not sorry if your favorite character doesn't make it to the end. I am interested to hear who people think will survive in the end.


	2. Hazardous Sections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law tries to live, Luffy drags him along to explore.

Law understood that there was just something in human instinct, that when someone sees a car crash or an accident in general, they tend to stop and stare at it. Humans are drawn to tragedy typically.

But good God, Law could not figure out why he was still in the dining hall with what started out as a debate on how to proceed with the new information given by Caesar, turned into an all out food fight.

Law felt pity for Sanji who, as seen previously, hated the thought of food being wasted and was trying to stop the situation. The girls were mostly screaming, trying to run out without getting hit. This one kid named Apoo (Law also immediately disliked him) was not helping in keeping the peace whatsoever by trying to agitate Kid on purpose. The rest of the guys were no help and Law found himself agreeing with Bonney’s previous statement on men’s intelligence.

Law sighed while under the table next to Zoro who seemed to be fast asleep. Law wondered if this an effect of the drug that they had been most likely given, because there’s no way Law would have ever came here willingly.

“Everyone!” a woman’s voice yelled, breaking through the sounds of chaos.

Everyone turned their attention to Mrs. Nico, who was looking rather scary despite having no outwardly expressed anger.

“I’d appreciate it, as your teacher for the moment, that we all get along and clean up this mess. Do you all really believe our problems will be solved while wasting resources?”

No one was staring her in the eye. No one could bring themselves too.

“That’s right!” Nami chimed in, “All of you guys have to clean this up now! It says clearly in the handbook, no destruction of property.”

“What a minute didn’t you also throw-” Luffy started before being smacked in the back of the head by Nami.

“Any objections?” Nami said, looking angrier than before.

Law found himself cleaning up the mess with the rest of the guys in the dining hall.

When the first discussion started the students had gotten to learn everyone’s names and talents. Sanji was the Ultimate Cook, Usopp was the Ultimate Storyteller, Chopper was the Ultimate Doctor, which confused Law because he had previously been calling for a doctor before. Either way, Law found it nice to have someone to talk to about his studies while he was here. Ace, who turned out to be Luffy’s brother, was titled the Ultimate Adventure, a title that Luffy seemed jealous about.

Speaking of which Luffy seemed rather preoccupied in making Usopp and Chopper laugh with childish jokes as they played with the food. Sanji was not appreciating this but didn’t do anything as Ace and him cleaned.

“Hey there Trafalgar,” a voice said behind him.

“Can I help you with something Eustass-ya?” Law asked, not bothering to turn around.

Kid was the Ultimate Engineer and turned out to be childhood friends with the long blonde haired guy was named Killer. KIller’s title was the Ultimate Drummer. Law found both Kid and Scratchmen Apoo, titled the Ultimate Musician, to be both red flags. Law was fully prepared to avoid them the entire time but it seemed Kid thought otherwise.

“It seems like we’re gonna be stuck in here for a while, huh?”

Oh my fucking, Law thought after turning around to afe him.

“Yes, unless this is all some elaborate prank, then I do hope we stay in here for a long while.” Law added cautiously. Kid was getting awfully close to him.

He knew making it sound like he couldn’t wait to or wanted to get out would make him seem suspicious. The last thing he needed was false accusations thrown his way.

“Do you wanna-?”

“Not interested.” Law started to move towards Sanji’s group to avoid this conversation.

“Oi! I didn’t even finish what-”

“I don’t need to hear the rest of it. Nor do I want too.” Law added. “Don’t I at least get to be heard after you nearly threw a chair on top of my head? Attempted murder already I see,” Kid said quickly.

Law could see Killer in the back next to Zoro, shaking his head at the scene. It seems Kid is no stranger to not getting the hint. Then again, that chair thing did hurt Law’s credibility with Kid, for all he knew Kid could try to get back at him for that.

“Fine,” Law said.

Kid opened his mouth and gaped like a fish before closing it and saying, “Yeah I don’t know where to go from here.”

“You suck at hitting on people,” Law said rather bluntly, turning Kid’s face beet red.

Law instantly regretted the snide remark. Good job putting yourself higher on his potential kill list Law, he thought.

“Jaggy was hitting you?!” Luffy suddenly yelled, gathering everyone’s attention. Even Zoro who had been awakened from his slumber.

“I didn’t-” Kid started before Luffy put himself right in between Law and Kid, ready to fight the guy was a full foot taller than him.

Law looked over to his brother who was passed out over a plate of food. The rest of them only looked on in confusion as they didn’t seem to be paying much attention to what Law and Kid were doing. Killer seemed ready to step in though, as he started coming over as well but not in a rush.

“Mugiwara-ya that’s not what that means.” Law said calmly.

“But you said he was trying to hit on you?” Luffy said, confused.

Law wondered if answering him honestly would help this situation but then decided to say to hell to all and answer him.

“That means flirting, he was trying to flirt with me.”

“Ohhh,” Luffy said before turning back to Kid and said, “He’s right, you do suck at it. Torao looked all uncomfortable too.”

Apoo couldn’t seem to hold his laughter back anymore by that point. Zoro and the other’s also chuckled at Luffy’s words. Even Law couldn’t hold back a smirk.

“You losers can clean up the rest of this shit by yourselves then,” Kid said with his fists clenched and his face still red as he stomped out the dining room on the right side.

Killer looked back at Law saying, “Sorry about him, he gets like this. It’s normal,” “It’s fine.” Law said, not that bothered by the situation. Killer went after Kid leaving the dining which was now only half a mess.

The rest of them went straight back to cleaning.

“If he messes with you again, you should punch him.” Luffy said to Law seriously then grinned, “Or I can punch him!”

“I don’t need you punching random people, especially here.” Law said, “Besides, I can handle myself just fine.”  
“It didn’t look like it.” Luffy said bluntly, “And besides we’re friends so I can always help you!”

“I don’t recall you being my friend.”

“We are though.”

“No, we’re not.”

“I don’t know what you call saving me from hanging outside a window then.”

“Basic human decency.”

“So friends!”

“No-”

“Get a room,” Zoro called out.

At this Ace broke out in a loud laughter with food all over his face while it was Law’s turn to be embarrassed. Luffy looked none the wiser as he was on the verge of asking what that phrase now meant.

“Don’t worry about it Torao,” Ace said, “Once Luffy’s set his mind on something, it’s hard to change it. Trust me I know.”

That didn’t exactly sit well with Law but he shrugged it off as they continued their clean up until around 2pm.

Law had decided himself too drained to try to explore even if he wanted to find some sort of medical hospital. He concluded that he would ask Chopper who had seemed to go off to explore with Luffy, Ace, and Zoro. Usopp and Apoo had left earlier for everyone it seemed.

Law left only after asking Sanji if he needed any help with sorting out the food for dinner. Law knew that Sanji and he felt the same sort of frustration when it came to the rest of the idiots around them. Sanji politely declined and Law was on his way to find his room.

Law stared down at his handbook which gave a map of the entire area they had access to. Law passed Carrot, who was the girl with a bunch of pets which made sense given her title was the Ultimate Animal Trainer.

He could see that the third floor was where the boy’s rooms were located and the girl’s rooms were on the fourth floor. The second floor held the fitness center as well as the spa while the first floor held the social lobby, front desk, and dining area/kitchen.

Law continued through the second floor’s hallway when a crash was heard down nearby the elevator. Law peaked over after hearing a groan and things moving about inside of the small storage room.

Usopp was there, flat on his ass, trying to pull himself up.

“Oh Law,” Usopp said before looking up at the ceiling.

“Nose-ya,”

Usopp gave him a look before turning away, seemingly not that offended by the choice of name Law had given him.

Law was this close to continuing his walk to the elevator when Usopp said, “Can you help me with something?”

Law weighed his options.

One hand this was a prime opportunity to get killed. A secluded area, everyone else was outside of the hotel exploring about. Law didn’t want to accidently overestimate his own strength, as he was very lean, not holding much muscle himself.

On the other hand, saying no would not be a smart idea given that interactions matter here. Looking put off could make Law look suspicious or even piss off another person. And he already had Kid being an ass, he didn’t need another one.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling too well right now.” Law answered carefully. “I get it, see ya.” Usopp said after Law walked off to the elevator.

Standing in the elevator alone allowed Law to wonder if he would ever be able to interact with anyone without feeling like every step he makes is life or death. Kid, Killer, Usopp, and even Robin and Nami he had agreed to clean up just to not cause any problems.

Well there was Luffy, Law thought back too. Luffy talking to him, even if he was infuriating, he made him forget their current situation. Law had actually argued with him in the dining hall without thinking about it first.

Law waved the thoughts away as Luffy just being annoying caused that slip. Law arrived at his dorm, right next to Chopper and across from Luffy’s which he could tell by the nameplates.

Law knew staying in his room for the entire stay there would not only drive him insane but also look heavily suspicious to everyone else either way.

He got out of bed after only getting about three hours of sleep. Law had spent most of his time yesterday reading over the rules from the handbook given, as well as looking at the map to see that a lot of the area around them wasn’t even included.

There were only four smaller named buildings side by side of the hotel, the warehouse, the first-aid center, the animal center, and the exploration center, whatever that meant.

The rules meanwhile seemed rather strange themselves. Recommended that students should be in bed around 10pm, no attacking Caesar Clown, the game master, and no one is allowed to kill more than two people. Law found that rather stupid, given killing more than one person leads to a stronger possibility of being found out, but then again that second person could be a witness. Another weird rule was the one that said that if there are two separate killers, only the first one will be punished.

Caesar and whoever else was behind this seemed rather prepared for this situation.

Law took a glance at the desk that only held a simple notebook and pen that seemed complementary with the rest of the room, same with the attached bathroom’s supplies and the extra set of clothes. It irked Law slightly he was being only given the same set each day but he could live with it.

He only took one step out of his room before he saw Luffy exit his room in front of him at the same time.

“Oh Torao!” Luffy yelled with a bright grin and energy that was near inappropriate for this time of the day.

“Mugiwara-ya, it’s like …” Law checked the time again, “5 o’clock in the morning. You should keep it down before you wake up the entire floor.”

“Are you hungry too?” Luffy asked, completely ignoring Law’s comment, “I was going down to see what I could eat right now.” Luffy suddenly gasped before saying, “You weren’t at dinner last night.”

“I wasn’t feeling too well-”

Law didn’t get to say anything else before Luffy dragged him by the arm to the elevator, saying, “Don’t worry! Sanji’s food can make you feel better, let’s go eat!”

“Oi!” Law protested.

Law couldn’t fight Luffy’s insistence on food solving all of humanities issues and ended up in front of the dining hall with Luffy still dragging him around by the arm.

“Sanji!” Luffy yelled coming inside without a care in the world.

Surprisingly enough to Law, Sanji was indeed in the kitchen working on preparing breakfast for everyone.

“Get out of here!” Sanji yelled as soon as he saw Luffy but then went back to a calmer expression when he saw Law, “Oh Law, you didn’t eat last night so I set aside some food for you.” Sanji handed him a plate of onigiri to eat while Luffy stared at it intensely.

“Thank you Sanji-ya.” Law said.

“Do you have any food for-”

“No, you have to wait like everyone else!” Sanji glared at Luffy. Luffy pouted at this but said nothing as Law and Luffy took a seat.

Law knew that either way, there was no way he was finishing all three of the onigiri. His anxiousness had been affecting his stomach since yesterday. He placed one of them in front of Luffy who at first beamed at this action before deflating.

“No, you should eat-”

“I’m not going to finish it anyways, Mugiwara-ya. I wouldn’t want to make Sanji-ya upset for wasting food either.” Law added in an effort to end the argument.

Luffy made sure Sanji wasn’t looking before stuffing it into his mouth and grinning at Law. Law tried to ignore the warmth rising in his chest.

As soon as Law was finished, Luffy declared that Law must see the outside of the hotel and all the cool stuff they found yesterday. Law found himself not even trying to stop Luffy from dragging him outside of the hotel.

Law thought of Corazon and how he would have been so excited to see Law make a ‘friend.’ Luffy’s actions seem to rather match Corazon's when Law had been smaller. It was at that thought, Law decided that Corazon and Luffy are never to meet for the sake of his sanity.

Their first stop was the warehouse which was semi attached to the left side of the hotel. It was huge because it held so much. There were shelves upon shelves in the warehouse of different objects and items. The most impressive part was the mini workshop that Kid had set up in a seemingly short amount of time.

It looked just like a mechanics shop with a lot of tools and material abound. Kid was working on something with his tools and was intensely focused on his task. They ignored Kid as they went and explored the rest of the warehouse.

Luffy tried to show Law all the interesting, random items by climbing up the huge stacks of shelves. Law already knew what was going to happen the second Luffy started climbing. Thankfully, Luffy almost knocked over the rows of shelves, causing Kid to yell at them to get out.

Their next stop was the medical center right next door. Luffy talked as they made their way inside.

“Those pool floaties in the warehouse made Usopp think that there could be a pool nearby. So we tried to climb the fence over to the first area but then Gassy yelled at us.” Luffy said.

“Gassy?” Law questioned.

“Caesar.” Luffy said with a disgusted look on his face, which Law could agree with.

“Was it because it was closed off?”

“Yeah, something about how we can’t break into them because it’s against the rules. I really hate all the rules here.”

Law was somewhat surprised at his restraint for not just going against Caesar's words. It made somewhat sense though, because all rules had stated, ‘If broken, the rule breaker will be punished by death.’

After seeing the front desk, Law further explored the surgery room and the research room which held many medical books that seemed rather rare. Luffy meanwhile was spinning around a swivel chair bored.

“These books are rather … unique.” Law commented mostly to himself. “Their books though.” Luffy said after looking at one very intensely. “I think these are translated from different languages, I recognize this one but wasn’t able to find a direct translation before.” Law held one up.

Luffy didn’t seem like he got what Law meant at all.

“Different places of the world have some differences in treatment and diagnosis. It’s always good to be well informed on different methods because every person themselves is different.” Law said, wondering if Luffy would even process that.

Luffy only stared at the book again before grinning at Law, saying, “That’s really amazing Torao! You’re right about everyone different, you’re so smart Torao!”

Law wasn’t expecting the slew of compliments. He had heard from people before time and time again how he was smart and ‘genius’ when it came to school. It had gotten numb at this point for him.

But for some reason when Luffy said this, it didn’t sound like he was just talking about his medical knowledge or how high his grades were or the insane amount of information he had memorized.

Luffy was talking about a different kind of intelligence, the emotional one.

Law turned away from Luffy as he thought how time and time again Luffy never seemed to fail at destroying his expectations.

Finally Luffy got bored and they decided to leave for the other buildings. They went out to the other side of the hotel, the right side, where they saw the animal center. It reminded Law more of a farm as it held a lot of the animals in open yards while the more domestic ones were inside the actual building. Right on the other side of it, was a large concrete building that held restrooms.

“How does one even get the title of Ultimate Animal Trainer so young.” Law muttered. “Yeah, most of the animals just want to eat you,” Luffy said while picking his nose, which made Law wince at.

“What do you mean they want to eat you?”

“Yeah, when I grew up with Ace, we had to fight animals all the time that wanted to eat us! Then we hunted them down for food.” Luffy said with a grin.

Law was starting to believe Luffy’s talent was not just out of some random chance.

“Didn’t you do that?”

“No, I do not recall fighting animals for food when I was younger … well not exactly like yours.” Law grimaced.

“You should try it one day! It gets you strong!” Luffy said.

Carrot was already inside feeding all the animals for the day and greeted them as they can inside, “Hey Luffy! Hi Law!”

Law silently thanked Carrot for interrupting their conversation. He didn’t want to get into a whole conversation with Luffy about how he would not be fighting animals for food with him any time soon.

“Hey Carrot! Do you know where the monkey is at?” Luffy asked excitedly.

The girl has a monkey here, Law thought in slight disbelief. He had seen the two goats and horse outside and thought that was already excessive. Inside were the dogs, cats, and the bird that smacked Zoro in the face yesterday but a monkey?

“Oh he’s-”

Carrot didn’t even finish her sentence before said monkey launched itself at Law’s back. Law staggered forwards as the monkey clinged to him and took his hat.

“What the- Give that back!” Law yelled as the monkey ran off with it.

Luffy only laughed until the monkey climbed up his side and took his straw hat as well. Now Luffy was just as pissed off as Law.

“Oi! Come back here you!” Luffy yelled chasing after the monkey. The monkey jumped from the counter to the ceiling fan, swinging around it. Luffy ran around the room, jumping over random animals to catch the monkey to no avail.

Law wondered why Carrot was only looking on intrigued as Luffy continued his one sided chase. Luffy at one point tripped over a random dog bed, landing on his face. The monkey laughed in mockery at Luffy until it was grabbed by Law from behind.

Law glared at the monkey as he took both hats away from it and released it. Both the monkey and Luffy stuck their tongues out at each other, making Law think Luffy’s last name fit a bit too well. Law had also decided that Luffy made for a great decoy when needed.

Law gave back Luffy’s hat as he turned to Carrot and said, “Could have helped us there.”

“Oh it's fine,” Carrot said dragging out the ‘fine,’ “Bariete was only messing around.” Bariete then climbed on Carrot’s shoulder, tilting its head trying to look innocent.

Law and Luffy didn’t seem very satisfied with that answer. Luffy forgot about it more quickly and proceeded to ask Carrot on when he could ride the horses outside.

Law distracted himself while petting one of the cats in the center. As annoying as Luffy seemed to be, Law didn’t mind spending time with him. It was definitely a more … interesting experience than it would have been had Law gone alone.

Luffy must have had his request rejected by Carrot, as he came back to Law to drag him back to the hotel for breakfast.

“Do you think Sanji’s done with breakfast yet?” Luffy asked excitedly. Law began to wonder how a breakfast would even work out in the hotel. He hadn’t been there for dinner so he didn’t know what that had been like.

It turned out to be a mess.

Law would almost say it was as bad at the food fight incident, if the food was flying around on purpose. It turned out Ace, Luffy, Kid, and Bonney were all big eaters.

Sanji must have known this ahead of time because coming in, Law didn’t understand how they’d be able to finish it all. Ten seconds later, he had his answer.

Law believes that him missing the first dinner had been a mistake, as everyone else at the dining room didn’t mind the chaotic mess that was happening.

Sanji was getting kicked down by the Ultimate Model, Boa Hancock, Usopp and Chopper were playing with their food, and Nami seemed to be riling up Zoro in a debate of who-can-win-at-a-drinking-contest. Vivi laughed and watched on. Shirahoshi and Ms. Nico, who Law learned was both the Ultimate Teacher and Archaeologist, we’re having a discussion on dangerous fish of the sea? Apoo was chatting loudly trying to get Law in the discussion. Meanwhile Carrot was sneaking food to some of her pets under the table. Occasionally Ace fell asleep while eating and Law was tempted to ask if he had been diagnosed for narcolepsy or had another condition.

Law found it almost surprising how carefree everyone seemed. Not a care in the world for the words that had been spoken before by that ‘gassy’ man.

“Law? Are you not hungry?” Sanji asked through the chaos that was still happening. Law noticed that he was now sporting a bruise on his left cheek.

Law looked down to his plate that had pieces missing, but of course that had been from Luffy and Bonney. How had Sanji known he didn’t touch anything in this mess?

“No, the food this morning was enough.” Law said before pushing the plate over towards Luffy, who was looking rather stuffed.

Luffy took his food without hesitation but seemed to glare at Law while he ate. It was obvious what he was trying to say, but Law decided to ignore the reaction.

Sanji didn’t look rather convinced either but said, “As long as it’s not wasted.”

Luffy wasted no time after breakfast to continue showing Law around.

“What even is an exploration center?” Law asked as Luffy pulled him out the door. “Caesar said it’s Ace’s room! Just like the hospital being yours and Choppers!”

So most of the buildings are set to a specific person then, Law thought, the hospital is mine and Chopper’s, Carrot’s is the animal center, Ace has the exploration center, and Kid has the warehouse. That’s awfully convenient, Law thought but said nothing on it.

The two passed the animal center which was getting awfully close to the forest area that was close off. I wonder why we’re here in the first place, Law thought.

Luffy stopped his cheery march making Law realize he had spoken out loud. Law stopped as well, slightly turning back to see what Luffy’s reaction would be.

“Does it matter? We’ll all get out of this together anyways?” Luffy said with complete confidence. To others it could have been seen as slightly insulting, as thought calling Law dumb, but Law understood that Luffy never really intended to insult people. He only says what’s on his mind. If he has insulted people on purpose well … Law had yet to see that.

“That’s some awfully high optimism.” Law commented.

“No one here is going to kill anyone else.” Luffy said. Law noticed a small drop in that optimism as he said, “Not like this …” Now that comment made Law slightly confused.

“What do you-”

“Lu!” a voice called out, “Wait for me before going in there!”

Luffy and Law turned to see Ace running to catch up to them. Luffy only stuck out his tongue, yelling, “Make me!”

Law found himself thrown over the shoulder of Luffy before he could say anything. Luffy was sprinting with Law on his shoulder as the older brother yelled at them.

If I don’t get killed in this killing game, I’m going to be killed by this kid, Law thought as he watched Ace chase after them.

As soon as Luffy reached the exploration center, he finally put Law down. Law smacked the upside of Luffy’s head.

“What was that for?” Luffy whined holding his head.

“You’re getting far too comfortable carrying and dragging me around everywhere.” Law glared at him.

“I carried you once!” Lufff said putting a one finger in front of Law, “Just because no way you’d beat Ace in a race.”

“HA!” Ace said, slapping Law on the back. This startled Law and made him conclude that both brothers didn’t understand the idea of ‘personal space’.

“You can’t even beat me in a race Lu,” Ace said walking into the exploration center.

Walking into the exploration room felt like another worldly experience for Law. Maps covered the walls, different survival equipment were out against the walls. There was a huge desk that was on the other side of the exploration center, right across from the entrance. One the desk was a lot of books stacked, from what a Law could guess, they were log books.

Luffy around in the area of a pond. Law found it strange how the pond connected to the forest outside. There was a huge fence keeping the pond connected to the forest only through the bottom. The entire left wall wasn’t even a wall, so the exploration center should have been part of the forest originally.

Even though the pond was less than two feet deep, Luffy was already stomping around in it, trying to catch one of the fishes.

“Lu you’re scaring the fish away again!” Ace said. Ah so that’s why he said to wait for him, Law thought.

“You all better not be messing up stuff in here again!” Nami came in holding a stack of maps, “My maps will not be stained again!”

Law didn’t even want to know what happened yesterday.

“Wait this is my center tho-”

Nami sent a look to Ace that shut him up quickly.

“Nami we can get food for lunch!” Luffy said. “All you think about is food!” Nami yelled before continuing to lecture him on ruining her maps.

Law took interest in the log books on the desk, but before Law could even look at one Ace slapped his back again, considerably harder this time.

“Hey Law, I wanna show you this one map over here!”

Once again Law was being dragged by the shoulder to the opposite side of the exploration center, away from Luffy and Nami. The other two didn’t even seem to notice.

“So … what do you want with my little brother?” Ace asked, gripping Law’s shoulder.

This cannot be happening, Law thought. He wished that he had stayed in his room again.

“Been hanging around him a lot.”

“I’m pretty sure other people were hanging out with him yesterday.” Law said.

“Yeah yeah, I was going to let the whole lunch thing yesterday go … but,” Ace said, dragging the but, “Don’t think I don’t see you looking at him like that.”

Law did wonder to himself what Ace was referring too, because he swears he hadn’t been doing that. Best way to play this to be completely honest and hope Ace didn’t stab him in the night.

“Like what?”

“You know what.”

“I don’t because I don’t even look at him.”

“You do! And you’ve been dragging him to the hospital center and for what?” Ace said rather accusingly.

“Okay one, have you met your brother?” Law pointed to Luffy, who was now trying to grab one of the books from Nami by literally climbing on her.

“He’s been dragging around me this entire time. I didn’t even know where the hospital center was even at.”

Ace didn’t look convinced and Law didn’t know if he even expected him to be.

“I don’t like the idea of some creepy, tattoo death guy, hanging around my little brother. Especially since we’re in this weird gam-“

“Ace don’t you have tattoos too?” Luffy asked, picking his nose.

Law hadn’t even noticed him walk over. Nami must have been able to fight him off or draw his attention over to them.

Ace looked ready to strangle Luffy, “There’s a difference! Mine doesn’t have death on it!”

“Gramps still got so mad when he found out you got tattoos,” Luffy laughed, “I remember you got punished for a whole month!”

“That was because you couldn’t lie about one thing! And all of a sudden I’m in trouble!” Ace deflected, “Besides, Gramps gets mad at us no matter what we do.”

Law wondered for a brief moment how their grandfather or even the rest of their family was like and decided that no, he did not actually want to know how they were like.

Luffy continued talking about something completely offtopic, something along the lines of sea monsters. Law couldn’t tell. Law was much more focused on the glare Ace was giving him from behind Luffy, before doing the ‘I’m watching you’ hand motion.

“Luffy, did you hear about the huge lounge up in the hotel?” Nami asked, now standing next to a very excited Vivi. Vivi must have come inside the exploration center when Ace had been talking to Law.

“What’s a lounge?” Luffy asked, but he sounded excited anyways. “It’s on the seventh floor-”

Before Vivi could even finish, Luffy was already at the other side of the room, pulling Law by the jacket in excitement. He had moved so fast that Law nearly tripped and would have been literally dragged if not for his luckily quick reaction.

Ace called out to Luffy to get him to slow, not looking too thrilled of Luffy going somewhere else with Law.

Law found this more amusing than anything and threw a quick smirk before they had been completely out the door. Law had barely enough time to catch the hilariously shocked expression from Ace.

They passed by Hancock and Shirahoshi on the way over to the hotel before making it to the elevator in the front lobby.

“Maybe we can see if there’s a roof top too!” Luffy said as they waited for the elevator.

“You have got to stop dragging me around everywhere.” Law said, slightly irritated. Luffy only grinned at him, “Not my fault you’re so slow.”

Law didn’t have time to answer before the elevator dinged and Luffy was already inside pressing the seventh floor button repeatedly. There just seemed to be no concept of ‘taking things slow’ with Luffy.

“You’re going to break this thing. Or maybe just the button.” Law commented as the elevator’s doors closed.

“I wanna see the lounge. I thought the rest of the place was just empty rooms.” Luffy said, fidgeting slightly.

This kid always is moving no matter what, Law thought.

“You seem to be quite interested in everything.” Law commented.

It had been true for the most part. Anything and anywhere in the enclosed area they had Luffy had an interest in. Of course at the hospital, he got bored but he always wanted to explore it anyways. If you had to ask Law, he’d say Ace’s talent of Ultimate Adventurer fit Luffy just as well.

“I like exploring things, it’s fun because you get to see the stuff that people could tend to miss. It’s like a treasure hunt! Even if you don’t know what you’re looking for, there’s always something to be found!” Luffy said.

“Even the insignificant parts?” Law asked.

“Huh? There’s no real insignificant stuff. Every place has its own story behind it and a lot of people miss out on those things because they say stuff like ‘insignificant.’ For being so smart, you can be sort of dumb Torao.” Luffy said with a laugh.

Law was left standing in the elevator, slightly taken aback. Luffy had already taken his leave to explore the new floor.

Law had no idea why he hadn’t expected an answer like that. Of course Luffy would speak what was on his mind and nothing else. It felt very reassuring to Law that if there was one person in the entire game he could trust not to lie to him, it’s Luffy.

Law followed after Luffy after a moment seeing the extravagant lounge. There was a much larger ceiling with a chandler hanging. It had a very modern look to it with many comfortable looking couches facing the glass that gave a much greater view of what lies ahead of the fenced off area.

“Torao, there’s the amusement park!” Luffy said slightly muffled because his face pressed up against the glass.

Law took a closer look at the area and then the sky.

“Oi Mugiwara-ya,” Law said.

Luffy made a questioning noise, turning to face him while his hands stayed planted against the glass.

“Do you think this place … even has an exit?” Law said, staring even closer at the outskirts of the area that seemed just to be surrounded in forest.

Luffy stayed quiet. It almost surprised Law that for once he might have been actually thinking. He didn’t know if he should be terrified of the thought of Luffy thinking or disappointed.

“It’s a big cage isn’t it.” Luffy said, “You noticed it right away huh?”

Law himself didn’t know exactly when he knew. It was more of a thought in the back of his mind when they had first been walking around the hotel.

“Yeah, that sky … isn’t even the actual sky.” Law said staring at the bright blue color.

“I hate it.” Luffy muttered.

Law had to admit him hated it as well. He was pretty sure anyone would really, but for Law it brought in too many memories.

“Let’s break out of here!” Luffy said suddenly.

“Excuse me?”

Law didn’t get to answer before Luffy already started moving to leave.

“Hey wait!” Law called out.

Surprisingly enough Luffy did stop to look at him. Law did also want to get out this place just as much as Luffy did, but he knew there had to be some sort of plan in place for this. Cameras and speakers littered the area around them, so it was obvious they were being watched at all times by someone. No one just kidnaps a whole entire class of teenagers without anyone raising suspicion.

“We need to look for a weak spot first but we can’t let Caesar find out about it either.” Law whispered, pulling Luffy a bit closer.

Luffy made a humming sound as though he was thinking about an idea.

“I got it.”

Law’s face flashed in confusion. How could he have already thought up an idea? Maybe he was more clever than Law gave him credit for.

“So we kick Caesar’s ass first.”

Law wanted to kick himself for even thinking Luffy would provide a coherent thought.

“Wha- No, there is going to be no-”

“Attention all Grandline Academy students and faculty.” the speakers blared.

Law and Luffy turned to see that Caesar was up on one of the tv monitors resting on a couch but looked rather annoyed as he made the announcement.

“Please report to the front desk of the hotel immediately.”

The screen turned off rather abruptly.

“So where do you think we can find the exit?” Luffy asked. “For now we probably don’t want to give anything away right now that we want to escape. It’s better to follow as this clown says.” Law said, pointing towards the elevator.

Luffy only gave a grumpy expression, “Why should I have to listen to that weird gas guy?”

“He’s the only one who knows the way out of this place. He also probably has security measures in place to prevent us from leaving in the first place. Even if he does seem like a complete moron, we’re not in a position to underestimate- Oi, are you listening to me?”

Luffy’s eyes were darting around the place as if looking for something. He stopped and looked at Law.

“I’m checking if there’s an escape here.”

“This is the seventh floor … I doubt we’d find one here.”

Luffy went on about some idea of beating up Caesar when Law got an idea.

“Wait a moment,” Law put up a hand to stop Luffy from talking, “Yesterday, did you and everyone explore every part of the area outside?”

“I think so? Maybe no behind the buildings or too close near the fence.” Luffy said. “Then that should be a first priority while here. Search every area from any kind of clue to an exit. Secondly, don’t let Caesar find out if we do find one. “ Law started.

“Alright! I’ll tell everyone-!”

“No you will not be telling everyone.” Law yanking Luffy’s arm before he could run off to do just that.

“Everyone here deserves to know though!”

“You’re also endangering them if you do that.” Law warned, “Not to mention there could even be someone who could take advantage of that information.”

“No one here would do that.” Luffy said confidently.

“You don’t know that Mugiwara-ya.” Law sighed.

He was beginning to rethink trying to work to get out of this place. Why did he allow himself to be wrapped up in this again? Oh right, Luffy is by far the most trustworthy out of everyone else here. Unless Law is just getting played then by all means he’ll give Luffy that win.

“What will you tell everyone if they ask you what you’re doing?” Law asked. He needed to make sure Luffy wouldn’t give anything away too fast.

Luffy gave a blank face giving the most obvious lying face Law has ever seen, “Nothing.”

Law wondered if he was going to die from getting caught for murdering Luffy before they could even come up with a proper plan for escape.

“ATTENTION!”  
Caesar’s loud voice only got an annoyed look from Law and Luffy.

“I mean all students come to the front desk.”

The tv screen turned off again, just as abruptly as it did the first time.

“Now can I kick his ass?”

“Here’s the plan, you go looking around for an exit. Make sure you take someone like Zoro or Ace with you because like hell you’re gonna manage to keep that secret.” Law said.

“I can keep a secret!” Luffy defended.

“Why are you complaining? I thought you wanted other people to know? I’m saying only those two though.” Law added the last part quickly.

Law didn’t particularly like going off instinct but if there were two people other than Luffy Law felt he could trust, it was Zoro and Ace. Even Zoro was a huge maybe but Law didn’t exactly have a choice.

“But now you’re challenging me.” Luffy said, “I don’t back down from any challenge.”

Law only gave him a blank look.

“Go without eating for five hours.”

“I won’t back down from any but one challenge.”

Law had an unexpected small snort of laughter at that before going back to his usual stern face.

“I am going to be researching in the hospital center to see if I can find any clues as to where we are located. There was a section of books I didn’t even get to look at because of you. We won’t be having much luck escaping if we’re in the middle of Europe.” Law said.

“Yeah, I’ll leave the boring st-”

Luffy stopped and grabbed on to Law’s arm suddenly. Law couldn’t even get out a word of protest before something purple splashed where Law had been standing. Luffy moved so fast that Law didn’t get a good luck before breaking out running after him.

Instead of going to the elevator, Luffy headed straight to the stairs. Law briefly wondered if he was really about to climb down seven flights of stairs. Another splash of purple hit close by his feet, giving him his answer.

Law caught a glimpse of the purple slime like thing that seemed to be sizzling or giving off some sort of smell. Law didn’t want to find out which and proceeded to run just behind Luffy down the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

Law was pretty sure he would have passed out in exhaustion by the midway point but the growing purple slime encouraged him rather aggressively to keep running.

Luffy’s infinite amount of energy helped him become the first to reach the bottom with Law just three steps behind him. Law slammed the door behind them once reaching the ground floor.

Law’s body shook from the rush of adrenaline still present. He practically gulped the air around him as though he was drowning, meanwhile Luffy looked only slightly out of breath.

“Oi Gassy!” Luffy yelled looking at the group that had seemingly arrived before Law and Luffy had.

Everyone else was present looking rather shocked at them. Caesar sat on the desk of the hotel looking bored and annoyed with them.

“Why did you launch those weird purple things at us!”

“I told you both twice to report to the front desk which you both ignored!” Caesar yelled then proceeded in a haughty tone, “I’m already having a hard enough time on my own. But now we have students who blatantly disrespect my authority!”

“How tragic, you’re the one having a hard time.” Law remarked while standing his stand. He was still catching his breath but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was a bit ago.

Caesar glared but then smiled, “It’s quite alright. Given that I was able to use the two of you as a demonstration for what happens when you don’t listen to orders.”

From the right wall next to Law and Luffy, a part of the wall moved revealing a gun appearing from the side. Many of the students gasped, some ducking even in fear. The gun swiveled around pointing in different directions.

“I am a scientist, first and foremost and the slime that had been launched at you two.” Caesar said pointing to Law and Luffy. Both wore a face of disgust and irritation. “This slime is a poison, I developed myself. It goes from quite a high price on the blackmarket too.”

The tv screen next to Caesar showed a much larger version of that same slime that moved, devouring items in its path, turning what it had taken over into stone.

Law felt a slight drop in his stomach at the realization that it was that slime that had been so close to hitting him so many times just moments ago. Law turned to Luffy who was staring at the screen. Law wondered just how Luffy knew about the slime or maybe he didn’t know about it and just went purely on his instincts. Either way, that luck that gave Luffy his title was certainly no joke.

“Because the two of you didn’t break a written rule, I’ll allow you to live this time. But now because of your antics the lounge and stairway are closed until further notice.” Caesar said, turning off the tv screen.

Nami looked positively exasperated at this while Ace gave a grin and said “Way to go Luffy!”

“You stupid men, could you not follow a simple order?” Hancock scolded.

She had only said one sentence but Law was already filled up with her bullshit. Before Law could say something Luffy took a stand.

“Why do we have to listen to him anyways?” Luffy said.

“Because I’m the game master and there’s no escape from this place! That’s why!” Caesar practically screeched.

“No one’s listening to your dumb game anyways.” Luffy said nonchalantly.

“He’s right, no one has … died.” Shirahoshi added in a small voice.

“Yeah, well it’s been more fun here than anything! We have access to a lot of cool stuff here.” Chopper said hopefully.

“Yeah! It's like a vacation away from everything.” Usopp said, trying to look brave.

Soon everyone was talking about how this place was much better than actually going to the academy where they would have been stuck worrying about tests and exams when they could just relax here. Law took note of how everyone was avoiding saying anything remotely close to missing home, the only thing close to that was a cell phone or the internet. At the center of this discussion was Luffy who obviously had a knack from keeping everyone in high sprites as the conversation went on.

Law saw out of the corner of his eye how absolutely infuriated Caesar looked with veins practically popping out of his forehead. Law couldn’t help giving a smug look to him, feeling confident in his new plan to take down this entire game Caesar had placed.

Caesar suddenly cleared his throat loudly, snapping everyone’s attention towards him.

“It seems you all need a bit more than just my announcement to get this game going.” Caesar said. Gone was the look of irritation that was now replaced with a smug look of his own.

“You all will now have two days in total.” Caesar said simply.

The silence among the students was near deafening.

Law couldn’t hear himself think over the rising panic and the many thoughts that plagued them He could tell on expressions alone that everyone else had the same questions running through their minds. Before anyone could sepak to ask Caesar answered for them anyways.

“You have two days starting from now to commit a murder. If no one is dead by two days' time,” Caesar said while the screen next to him placed a timer, “... everyone will be punished. With or without a trail or murder.”

The screen, as though to prove his point, showed the faceless people all have an x over their heads. It then flashed ‘Gamer Over’ text on the screen.

“This will guarantee at least one of you will be dead in the two days time. Good luck to all!” Caesar said with pure excitement, “I’m looking forward to what you all will bring to the table.”

With a puff of smoke, Caesar disappeared, leaving the timer on the screen, counting down.

Law had only been able to realize that he hadn’t been breathing before he saw a table fly through the air, smashing the tv screen into pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really thought that this and the third chapter would be one but it was just far too long one it's own so I split them up. So far this has to be the longest chapter yet but I have the feeling it's not going to stay that way as the story continues. Btw may have to add more chapters just I just have way too many ideas for this fic.


	3. Fate's Restrictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their two days before the time is up.

Law decided to skip out of lunch that day. He hadn’t felt too well to even think of food and threw himself the books that littered the hospital research room. 

He searched through everything, taking in as much information as he could. Law had mostly done this to find any clue as to where they could possibly be located. They weren’t going to get that from the area around them after they had just confirmed that everything around them was fake. 

Just maybe these books could lead to at least at least the continent. After, all different areas of the world have their own various ways of treatments that can be learned. But even that Law knew he could only get some much from the books. At one point he would have to go with Luffy in exploration around the area for an escape. 

Law looked up from his medical book to see another screen in the corner of the room. It seemed almost mocking that all the screens had that same timer that kept counting down. Law knew that in no time at all, the second day would be upon them. 

Law remembered when Kid had thrown the table at the screen in pure frustration. After that, an argument ensued. 

“That stupid clown!” 

“Oi calm down!” Sanji yelled, “You know one of the rules is we can’t attack the guy.” 

“Who cares at this point! He wants us dead anyways!” Kid yelled. 

“That’s why we can’t afford to let him get to us like this.” Ms. Nico said, “We have to work together here or otherwise we’ll lose all trust in one another. We only have two days to do this unfortunately.” 

Ms. Nico’s voice was very reassuring to everyone, feeling just a bit more safe that there was an actual adult here to help them. 

“Yeah! We should all look for an exit!” Carrot said. 

Luffy turned and grinned to Law as though saying ‘I told you so’ while everyone continued on about how they could split up to go look in groups. 

“What do you think of this whole thing?” a voice said next to him. 

Law only looked slightly to see Zoro. Law couldn’t tell if he should be completely honest with him or not but decided to anyways. 

“It’s not going to be that simple.” Law said, “Whoever put us here, certainly wouldn’t let all their trouble go to waste over just one escape attempt.” 

“I agree, but panic and fear isn’t exactly ideal to have here either.” Zoro said. “The fact that Caesar isn’t even stopping this conversation that’s happening right now … it’s already a sign enough that any escape attempt is either futile or is going to be incredibly difficult to pull off.” Law said. 

“So you noticed that as well? The black market? A scientist?” Zoro said. 

“Of course, we can only speculate on our situation however. There’s nothing that can give complete hard evidence as to why we’re here.” Law said. 

Law took a pause to see Luffy rallying up everyone to search for a way out. Everyone, surprisingly including Hancock and Kid seemed to be listening to his words as well. 

Everyone had stayed behind for lunch while Law headed straight to the hospital. Law hadn’t found anything particularly useful besides brushing up on a few medical techniques. In his opinion, they probably were still located somewhere in Japan. The whole section that he hadn’t gotten to look at had much more books that didn’t even relate to medical knowledge but hopefully those could give clues on their location.

“Excuse me?” 

Law jolted slightly at the sudden voice, looking up from his book to see Ms. Nico just outside of the room. 

“May I come in? Or am I interrupting?” 

“No, you may come in.” Law said, before going back to his book. 

“I’m somewhat surprised you’ve taken to studying instead of searching like everyone else.” Ms Nico said, taking a seat on the couch nearby to the desk. 

“Why is that?” 

“The medical field is a rather rigorous field to take part in.” Ms. Nico said, taking a book of her from Law’s desk. “You’re either studying to get your mind off something or because not even a killing game can stop your curiosity.” 

Ms. Nico only smiled at him but he could tell that in ways she may have been just like him. Someone who understood the horrors of the world around them to the point that a mere killing game doesn’t even sound surprising. 

“You’re partly correct.” 

“Do you feel as though you have no reason to escape?” Ms. Nico asked. 

“Of course I do.” 

“Then why do you seem to do little to nothing about your situation?” 

Law was beginning to become annoyed. She must have noticed based on her next words. 

“I mean this as no offense to you. After all, what am I doing here?” Ms. Nico said. 

“Reading the same as me. But I assure you Ms. Nico, I am doing something. Book’s can offer more information than what meets the eye.” Law remarked. 

“Now that I agree with,” Ms. Nico chuckled, “Although I must say, you should be getting some sleep.” 

“It’s only two in the afternoon.” 

“I believe you know what I am talking about.” Ms. Nico said with a knowing smile. 

“How perspective of you.” Law muttered. 

“So I’ve been told.” 

They sat in comfortable silence, at times comparing notes on the different books. None giving any sort of hard, definitive evidence that they were indeed in Japan still. Law picked up several books to take back with them to their hotel room once it started reaching the night time hours. 

“Pray tell, what will you be doing with some books at night?” Ms. Nico said, stopping him in his tracks. 

“They’re for tomorrow.” Law said smoothly. 

She only shook her head, causing him to only take two of them with them to his room. Unsurprisingly back at the hotel Luffy and Usopp were messing around Ace laughing and encouraging them. 

Law merely said his goodnights to them and headed to his room, where instead of even trying to sleep, he decided to spend the night reading up on the books. Even after concluding the books wouldn’t be helping them any further, he continued to read on just to get his mind off the idea of wanting to go home. 

Every once and awhile, he found himself drifting thinking about his foster father Corazon and his small group of friends back home. He hadn’t been the most sociable person in the world so it was still surprising to him he had held on to those friends for so long. 

He fell asleep finally on his desk with Corazon’s smile on his mind.

“TORAO!” 

Loud banging jolted Law awake. He winced at the bright sun and cursed himself for not closing those blinds before falling asleep. Law also turned off the light that he had been using the night before to read with. 

The banging continued with Luffy’s continuous calls to wake up. 

He groaned and slightly stretched as he walked to the door. 

“Is there something you need Mugiwara-ya?” Law asked, opening the door. 

“Whoa you look terrible!” Ace said, standing right behind Luffy. Law noticed that he didn’t say that in a smug or rude way but more filled with concern. “Yeah, did you just wake up?” Luffy asked, “You don’t even have your fluffy hat on!” 

Law would have been offended, but he didn’t have the energy and honestly couldn’t blame them for those comments. 

“Yes, I did just wake up. Is there something you need?” Law asked. 

“Vivi’s asked us to have a meeting with everyone at breakfast.” Luffy said, “When did you go to bed?” 

“I don’t remember.” Law said before looking at the clock, “Probably thirty minutes ago.”

Law could hear Zoro laugh before walking by saying, “Sounds about right.” 

Law yawned and said, “I’ll be down in a bit with everyone else. She doesn’t have to wait on me or anything.” 

Luffy opened his mouth to say something but Ace covered it fast and said, “Alright see ya!” 

Law may have closed the door but like he couldn’t hear the two brother’s conversation behind the door. It wasn’t his fault they were speaking so loudly.  
“Why’d you do that?” Luffy asked. 

“He’s obviously gonna come down no matter what.” Ace said, “What are you going to do when he refuses?”

“Lock him in the room.” Luffy said obviously. 

Law could hear the smack. 

“Don’t be rude!” Ace scolded. 

“You said he looked terrible!” 

“And I will apologize for that later, for now we should just go down to the dining hall.” 

Law got dressed in fresh clothes and managed to look as though he had gotten at least three hours of sleep instead when leaving his room. That didn’t stop the looks of concern he got when he walked into the dining hall. 

It seemed a few others weren’t looking too well either. Others such as Usopp, Shirahoshi, and Nami looked as though they hadn’t gotten much sleep either. 

Law promptly sat next to Chopper who was having a conversation with Ms. Nico (who gave him a very disapproving look) and next to Bonney who was discussing with Hancock about some political figure. 

“All these politicians are terrible anyways.” Hancock said, making Bonney nod in agreement while she stuff her mouth. “Charlos is an annoying pain in the ass either way. Aborati-” 

“Hey Law!” Sanji called out, pulling him out of the conversation, “Here’s your food.” 

Law looked down to see an entire plate filled the brim with food. The only other people he saw with a plate looking even remotely like his was Luffy, Bonney, Ace, and Kid’s. Law knew what was going on here. 

“I’m alright, I can just have a coffee.” Law said politely, trying to give back his food. 

“You’ve skipped one too many meals. At least finish half, I’ll give the rest to those three monsters over there.” Sanji said, nodding over to Ace, Luffy, and Kid. 

“How have they not eaten the entire supply here.” Law commented. 

“I do cut them off, believe me.” Sanji said before turning to Bonney with practically hearts in his eyes, “But I could never cut off food for you Bonney-chan!” 

Law turned away to ignore Sanji’s weird flirting and began eating. He ate while thinking back to his first year in high school and worried that he could relapse into those bad habits that took a full year to break from. Law knew Corazon would be disappointed if he did, that thought alone was enough to keep him eating. 

Near the end of breakfast, Vivi stood up gathering everyone’s attention. Law had to admit her title was well deserved as just her standing was enough to attract everyone to pay attention to her. 

“Everyone, I have an idea to help our situation. I thought last night that there must be a reason as to why we are here. Therefore it seems rather, no, completely nonsensical that someone would go through so much effort just to kill all of us.” Vivi said, holding her head high. 

Every word she spoke encouraged our listening further, even Luffy was eating slightly quieter. 

“Every bit of this place has had so much investment, time, and money put into it. So I do not believe they will or even can kill us all at once.” Vivi declared, “Therefore I am proposing a system to help prevent these … killings from happening. We can, as elementary as it sounds, we can use a buddy system to keep track of everyone.” 

She paused for any sort of reaction. 

“A buddy system?” Kid questioned, sounding condescending, “You want us to stick with someone at all times?” 

“I understand it may seem like a hassle, but it is for our safety. Until we can find a way out of this place at least. We should work together and use our collective abilities that we all have to escape this place. But … I do understand if you wish to not participate in this. But for everyone else who is willing I-” 

“This is a exceptional idea Miss Nefertari!” Hancock stood, showing a proud look on her face before glaring at Kid. 

“I think it’s a good idea too.” Shirahoshi agreed. 

Most of the girls seemed in agreement for this idea while the guys didn’t seem to really care all that much about this new idea. 

“Huh?” Apoo said as if just listening to the conversation, “Can’t two people be murdered by one person?” 

The collective conversations between the girls died at that. 

“Yeah, one pair dies in secret and that’s a easy win for a person if they can get away from their own partner long enough.” Kid remarked. 

“Already thinking of ways to murder with this huh?” Zoro said, his eyes were closed as though still mid-nap. 

“What did you say you-” 

“All you guys do is fight, why can’t we just agree on a simple system?” Bonney interjected just as Killer was about to stop Kid. 

“We can rotate?” Carrot suggested. “Following one person everywhere is going to get exhausting!” Apoo pointed out. 

“That can also be tiring,” Nami said. 

The conversations continued, discussing back and forth how effective it actually could be. Vivi only looked on, not disappointed by any means. It seemed that she had almost expected this to happen. She must have had experience with this sort of situation countless times before and was unfazed, thinking of a way to reel the group back together. 

“I think your idea is good in theory Nefertari-ya. Unfortunately I don’t believe it is actually plausible.” Law said, turning the attention to him, “But this is why she had said in the first place that this system was up to you to take part in.” Law gave a quick look over to Kid and Apoo purposely. 

“That is correct.” Vivi said, almost thankful someone had done the reeling for her. 

“Well I think it’d be good to do.” Nami said, throwing over an arm on Vivi. Vivi gave a grateful look as they continued to discuss who actually would take part in it. 

Law decided to opt out of it while in the discussion. The pairs went as Vivi with Nami, Bonney with Hancock, Luffy with Ace (they were going to be together anyways), Chopper with Robin, Shirahoshi with Carrot, with everyone else deciding not too. 

Sanji at first had agreed very enthusiastically until he was paired up with Zoro, which lasted only thirty seconds before they broke out fighting one another. 

Law got up to start heading to the hospital center when a small hand tugged on his shirt. 

Law looked down to see Chopper who asked, “Law where are you going?” 

“I’m heading to the hospital to-” 

“You can’t! You need sleep!” Chopper said, looking panicked.

“Hey he’s right!” Luffy said with a chunk of food stuffed in his mouth, “You should eat some meat too to help!” 

“I’ve had my coffee, I-” 

Law found himself getting literally pushed by Luffy, Zoro (Luffy called for his help), and Chopper into the elevator. While standing in the elevator he was reminded of his friends back home who used to scold him for the same actions. 

Law only spent about a couple more hours reading through the books he had, until passing out from exhaustion. When he woke again, his clock read 7 am. Law groaned at it. 

One more day is left, Law thought to himself, a full day wasted when he could have been helping to find an escape or doing something. 

Law did feel much more rested and decided today he couldn’t afford to lose out on. They only had until one in the afternoon tomorrow. That itself wasn’t very comforting, leaving Law with a heavy stomach even though he hadn’t eaten much. 

He pondered on if going to the dining hall first where for certain Sanji would have something for him to eat. But he did waste a lot of time not helping the others explore other areas.

Law decided to search instead, going to take the elevator to the top floor this time. The seventh floor being the lounge had been closed off thanks to Luffy and Law’s … punishment there as well as the stairs from the seventh down, but Caesar never mentioned the top or the roof.

Law didn’t even know if anyone had tried to go up there, as it could give a good aerial view of their surroundings.

Unfortunately it wasn’t that simple. The last floor was just filled with empty rooms. Before giving up law decided to try and see if there were stairs or even an entrance to the roof to reach the top.

He walked down the end of the hallway to see a door to the side leading to a set of stairs. He quickly went to the stairs, climbing up to the rooftop greeted by the fresh morning air blowing his in face.

Law walked carefully around, wanting to see if someone was around on the rooftop. He’s not going to lie, a place such as this would be a good place to murder someone or even push them off the rootop in general. It was that reason he was being careful with his surroundings. 

He looked around getting a better view of the forest that surrounded them. There was a large pool in the distance, as well a gigantic amusement park that they had kept seeing snippets of. Law took note that their area was just a large dome that gave Law the feeling of a snow globe only this had no glass but a sky sort of sky. 

Law wondered if anyone else, besides most likely Luffy, had noticed this and decided to ask them later. 

Law looked down and could only see a couple of figures, Nami and Vivi going to the exploration center, Ace walking towards the hotel, Kid, Killer, and Zoro talking in front of the warehouse, Carrot and Shirahoshi with the animals. Nothing too out of the ordinary but Law did not know how Ace and Luffy’s buddy system seemed to be more unofficial than anything. 

Law didn’t think anyone could really tell he was up there in the first place. Not that Law was paranoid or anything, but he did occasionally check behind him to see if anyone else had come up the roof. He knew he didn’t have Luffy’s (or even maybe Zoro’s) luck by any means. There was going to be no way he could grab on to a ledge to stop his fall and then have someone recuse them. 

Law shook his head at the memory of first meeting Luffy, finding it near ridiculous how much luck he seemed to have. 

Law decided there was nothing really that he could do from being so high up. It was difficult to even make out the people below, much less seeing if there was some sort of exit. 

He took the elevator down, entering into the hotel lobby. Law headed straight towards the dining hall where Sanji was still giving out food for other people who had also gotten there. 

“Decided to eat?” Sanji asked, grabbing a plate behind him on the counter. “I do eat thank you very much.” Law said, taking the plate from Sanji. 

This time the plate had less food, thankfully, Law was not in the mood to be forced to finish a lot of food at the moment. He still felt the heavy weight of anxiousness in his stomach. 

There were only about five other people in the dining room. Sanji served the pairs of Nami and Vivi and Hancock and Bonney with Law sitting off to the side. He didn’t particularly care too much about their conversation when he felt something crash into his side. 

“Torao! You’re awake!” Luffy said, hugging his side. 

“Luffy!” Hancock rose from her seat suddenly. Law didn’t miss the quick death glare that he got from Hancock before she turned back to Luffy. 

“Do you want to go on that walk later?” Hancock asked, looking rather uncharacteristically nervous and flustered. 

It was so uncharacteristic of her that Law was doing a double take to make sure that was actually her. Bonney made a rather tired looking face at Hancock while Nami and Vivi giggled to the side. 

“Oh, Hammock.” Luffy said, still not letting go of Law’s side. 

Law would for sure spit his drink out at that had he been drinking. Not just at the weird nickname that Luffy had given her but at the fact that she let him call her that. One would figure that she would have absolutely destroyed Luffy for even uttering that to her or even looking at her. 

“Uhh maybe later? I have to tell Torao something!” Luffy said, starting to pull Law up without his permission. 

Hancock went right back to glaring into Law’s soul while Vivi and Nami giggled even louder. 

“Hey you better come back here and finish your food Law!” Sanji yelled after them.

Law left the dining hall in complete confusion with Luffy dragging him along. They stopped in the corner of the room, nearby the now closed staircases. Luffy looked around to see if anyone else was around while Law snapped out of it.

“What the hell did you do Boa-ya?” Law asked, still not getting the image of the Boa Hancock being flustered over a guy. 

“Hm? I think I said something about politics?” Luffy said unsure of himself, “I don’t really know but now she wants to spend a lot of time with me now. But I wanted to spend the day with Ace yesterday instead!”

Of course Luffy wouldn’t remember something like that. Law’s pretty sure he can hear the millions of Boa Hancock fans crying now and Luffy would be the one person in the world to get the Most Beautiful Woman in the world to fall in love with him. 

“Oh oh!” Luffy said before motioning Law to bend down closer. Law bent slightly down with Luffy cupping his hands around his mouth to whisper to Law. 

“At 1pm, come to the exploration center.” Luffy said in an excited tone that almost strayed his voice away from a whisper. 

Luffy gave the biggest grin Law had yet to see, which he didn’t think was possible. 

“But shh!” Luffy said clasping his hands over Law’s mouth as though he would be spilling the secrets. Luffy then took his leave heading out the doors to meet Usopp outside. 

Law nearly smiled at how childish yet endearing Luffy could be. Law caught himself in the thoughts and willed them away. He couldn’t afford to think of things such as that right now. Especially when that timer was still going down. 

Law took a glance at the timer, not helping his built up anxiousness. 

Law took his leave back to the dining hall where he finished his breakfast. He couldn’t help but notice the absolute furious stares from Hancock. Nami and Vivi kept whispering back and forth while throwing not so subtle glances at Law. 

Law left before Hancock could completely explode on him. Law didn’t exactly know where to head to first. It had already hit 10am once he left the dining hall but he had no idea where to start in terms of searching for some sort of exit. For all he knew, Luffy may have already found one in the exploration center. 

Law decided to head to the hospital center in the meantime. On the way he passed by Kid, Killer, Apoo, and Zoro. 

“Hey Law!” Zoro called out, “You look better than yesterday thats for sure.” 

“Thanks,” Law said in a deadpan tone. He then looked over and decided what harm would there be in staying around them and asked, “What are you all doing out here?” 

“Killer and Apoo have been trying to look around for some instruments but we haven’t found much.” Kid answered. 

“Is that really what we should be searching for at a time like this?” Law asked. 

Kid glowered at him for that remark before saying, “Like you have any idea where to look. At this point we’re just trying to get our minds off this whole thing and stick together.”

Law shrugged, not really having much of an idea himself on where else to look. “Did you check behind the buildings?”

“Nearly everywhere we could think of, we did yesterday.” Killer answered.

“The hotel rooftop?” Law asked.

That got him a blank look from the four men in front of him.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Law sighed and put a hand over his face, “How do you miss something like that?”

“Can we even access it?” Zoro questioned, looking upwards. “You can, I was able to this morning.” Law said, “Unfortunately it was just hard to see the ground floor in general but you could see some of the closed off areas beyond the fence.”

“That wasn’t very helpful either.” Kid smirked with it being now Law’s turn to glare at him. 

“Most of the outside area was looked over by everyone yesterday anyways, doubt we could find something if we looked everything over again,” Apoo said, “By the way, Law do you happen to play any instruments?”

Law thought back to when Corazon had briefly tried to introduce him to piano.

“I used to play some piano, but quit after a while. Just wasn’t my thing,” Law shrugged.

“Piano would exactly fit the vibe either,” Apoo muttered looking over to Killer.

Ah that’s right, the two were both technically musicians, Killer being a drummer and Apoo just being claimed as just Ultimate Musician. Law wondered how that titling had even worked but decided to not question it.

“Do you want to go check the inside of the hotel Law? Maybe there’d be something there.” Zoro said, looking sort of bored.

Law obliged and they set off back to the hotel. They spent a good amount of time checking floorboards and under furniture to see if there was any kind of doorway but found nothing.

“I really wish I could find my swords.” Zoro said after a while of searching.

Law looked over to him, “Oh right, that’s a bit strange to see the Ultimate Swordsmen without a sword. Maybe they’re beyond the fence.” 

“Maybe, who knows. I do know that Caesar is going to get it if something happened to them.” Zoro said before asking, “Did you ever practice? I know it isn’t very common.”

Law paused, half lifting a rug in front of him. 

“I used too.”

“Really?” Zoro said with a smile.

“Yes but I think I may be rusty. I haven’t used it in a long while.” Law said, thinking back to his sword in his closet that stood collecting dust.

“If we can find some sort of swords out there, we should spare. So far no one else here has used a sword before.” Zoro looked quite happy with this new discovery.

“Yeah, I think I need the practice too but I’m going to be honest, I doubt I’d be much practice for you.” Law said. He was, after all, talking about sparing with the best teenage swordsman in the world.

“Practice is still practice,” Zoro shrugged before looking over to the clock, “Oh hey, we should probably head to lunch right now. Last thing I need is an earful from that lousy cook.” 

Law nodded seeing as the clock had reached 12pm. They headed to the dining hall next to the small waiting area they had been searching in. 

“Oi Law!” Ace called out from the elevator. 

Zoro looked back as well but Ace said, “I’m just gonna borrow him for sec, you can go ahead Zoro.” 

Law was confused that Ace wanted to talk with Law alone. Zoro went off while Ace motioned Law to follow back to the small waiting area. 

“I wanted to say sorry about the other day,” Ace started.

Law put up his hand to stop him, “It’s not that big of a deal, Portages-ya. I did in fact look terrible that morning.” 

“Oh right, that too.” Ace winced. 

Law noticed that Ace was very sweaty, shifting his weight back and forth.

“Are you alright Portages-ya?” Law asked.

“Oh, I didn’t change after working out.” Ace said with a laugh, “Sorry if I smell. I’m getting off track though. I wanted to apologize about my threatening that other day.”

Law remembered clearly that time at the exploration center where Ace had been trying to point out every flaw Law had. Law didn’t mind it but it seemed to bother Ace a lot so he let him continue.

“Luffy made me realize that yeah, he can handle himself just fine. So I’m giving my full permission for you to hang out with him.”

Law may have overestimated just how much Ace’s feelings had changed. 

“Notice how I said hang out.” 

“Duly noted.” 

“But seriously, I don’t think you’re that bad for Luffy I guess.” Ace muttered.

“Excuse me?” Law said, wondering if he had indeed interpreted those words correctly.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like him! It’s very obvious!” Ace said pointing at Law menacingly.

“I do not like him. We are just acquaintances.” Law said.

Ace looked at him with comically wide, confused eyes before going back to anger, “Now you’re saying you’re too good for him!”

Law was regretting not following Zoro back to the dining hall fast enough.

“I didn’t say that. Besides, now it seems you want me to date him.” Law said with a slight smug face.

Ace sputtered in both anger and confusion.

He wouldn’t actually date Luffy, it was just a joke to mess with Ace. After all, to Law, they were just acquaintances. 

Ace sighed, “I wish you luck with that then. I know Lu is going to get upset if I don’t think he can handle himself but in actuality I really do. It’s sort of hard being the older brother and knowing that you really can’t be there for them. They have to grow themselves.”

Law felt those words hit him hard. 

“You’re right Portages-ya. It does hurt because you want to be able to be able to protect them. Other times you find yourself too late to do anything.” Law said, seemingly far away now.

“Do you have a sibling back home?” Ace asked.

“Had.” Law said simply, “I had a younger sister.”

“Oh, I-“

“It was quite a while ago. There’s no need to say anything.” Law said quickly. He had grown tired over the many years of his life hearing the same words of ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘My condolences.’

“No, what I meant to say was that Lu and I had another brother as well.” Ace started, “I know how it feels like, Luffy understands how it feels like.”

“I’d think of it that he is very lucky to have a brother such as you with him.” Law said, hoping he had found the right words to say to Ace. He had never really been good with this sort of open yourself talks.

Ace smiled, “Yeah, I’m really glad I can watch over him at a time like this. Well I guess he has you too now!” 

Law raised an eyebrow at this. 

Ace started to head towards the exit before saying, “I’m counting on you to help me out though Law! Luffy can be a big handful sometimes! See ya around!” 

Law waved bye not feeling particularly overjoyed as being proclaimed baby sitter number two for an overly energetic kid. 

By the time Law walked into the dining room a lot more people had arrived. All of the girls were around each other playing a card game with some of the other guys off to the side. 

Law and Zoro sat next to each other, eating the food served by Sanji. They talked again about their experience with swords for a while. 

“Sheesh, why are there so many guys skipping out on food today?” Sanji muttered before turning to Law and Zoro, “Have you seen Luffy or Usopp recently?”

Sanji gave a quick glare towards Zoro who glared back without hesitation.

Law started taking another bite from his food, answered, “I saw him around 9, same time he came into the dining hall. Why?”

“Apoo had been asking around if anyone had seen him after I think 10 or 11. But no one has seen him, he hasn’t even showed up for his second snack of the day.” Sanji said.

Law felt like he was trying to swallow a stone after he heard that. His mind immediately went to the worst, feeling slightly sick to his stomach. 

“What are you looking at shit cook?” Zoro asked.

“Your moss head that’s what.” Sanji shot back.

Zoro immediately took offense and got up as though actually about to start a fight with Sanji. They argued about something meaningless in the background. Law couldn’t make out their words, it sounded like white noise instead.

Law’s body felt heavy, trying to process the horrible dread crawling up his throat. 

Law looked at the clock saying 12:40 now. He knew Luffy had said 1, but just maybe he would be there now. Law didn’t know, but something was telling him to check on Luffy or to even find him.

Law got up from the table a bit too suddenly. That even caused Zoro and Sanji to both give him a curious look pulling them away from their argument. The other girls seemed to focus on their game to notice.

“I’m going to be right back. I need to check something.” Law said leaving his almost finished plate of food.

Law ignored the looks Sanji and Zoro gave him. Neither Sanji or Zoro protested much as Law walked quickly out of the dining hall. 

Zoro even reached to take some food from Law’s plate only to have it smacked harshly by Sanji. 

Law thoughts took over as he kept waking at his fast pace. 

If not the exploration center then where else could he be right now? 

Surely his room could be another option. Maybe the animal center?

Law took a glance but saw no one there. He mentally crossed off that area as a place to check. There weren’t even that many places in the area anyway. Maybe he went even exploring through random hotel rooms on a random floor?

Law saw just up ahead someone standing in front of the door to the exploration center. He could see the color of the strawhat hanging on the person’s back.

“Mugiwara-ya!” Law called out now jogging towards him.

He got no response. As Law approached, he noticed that Luffy was staring wide eyed inside the exploration center. 

Law was about to speak before his mouth dried up entirely. 

He stood behind Luffy, looking past over his head to see a figure sitting on a chair, facing the doorway to the outside.

One could say that the person was asleep but the body was pale white, motionless and hung over in a lifeless way. The air of the room itself felt cold. The was a strange clicking noise that Law couldn’t seem to place in the room.

“Ace?” Luffy asked in a cracked voice.

Luffy took one step forward, the movement drew Law’s attention to the inside when he noticed the clicking noise had become extremely loud and fast.

Law’s heart dropped to his stomach. 

“A body has been dis-!”

Law barely had time to grab on to Luffy’s shirt before a huge heat wave from the explosion threw them both backwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... 
> 
> all Imma say 
> 
> .  
> ..  
> ... 
> 
> you better have enjoyed the LawLu fluff in chapter 2 ... 
> 
> =3=
> 
> Also I'm going have a goal to post the chapters every Sunday at least


	4. Time Bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigation begins

A high pitch noise rang through Law’s head. 

He wasn’t even able to understand his own thoughts for what felt like an entirety. It felt fuzzy with no real comprehensive thought. He couldn’t even tell if he was still breathing for a second. 

The first full thought he could get out was ‘What the hell is on top of me?’

Law’s eyes fluttered trying to open only to get blinded by the bright orange light. 

Law felt like complete shit, face burning, a random pain in his leg and chest, sticky hands, as well as a huge weight on top of him. The weight wasn’t the only factor in him not getting up but it sure was playing a role in it.

Law got up slightly using his arms, shifting the large object on top of him slightly. He could feel something cutting at his skin when he moved. Law looked down to try to make out what or who was on top of him. 

Law first noticed the blood. The spilling blood from the dead center of Luffy’s chest that had a piece of metal lodged into it. Next he saw Luffy was in shock, eyes open but not staring at anything. Luffy was still making small noises but Law couldn’t make out anything he said thanks the ringing in his ears. For all Law knew, Luffy was saying nothing at all, only moving his mouth.

Law didn’t even have time to process another piece of information before he had forced his body to get up quickly.

He didn’t care that his head was throbbing or that his hands were covered in blood or that there was a pain in his leg. Luffy was bleeding out and needed medical attention immediately.

Law carried the smaller boy, who weighed more than Law thought he would, running with him as fast he could without jostling him too much. Law couldn’t afford wounding him further, but he couldn’t afford waiting around for help either. 

As far as he knew, everyone else was still in the dining hall and no one was even at the animal center. Law didn’t even have any medical equipment or sanitary anything on him.

Goddamn it, why the hell did the hospital have to be all the way on the other side? Law cursed in his head.

Every second that passed had to be another step forward closer to the hospital. Law couldn’t afford to lose anytime. 

“What the fu-“

Law barely registered him running past Kid. 

He instead had the phrases circling his head, ‘I’m counting on you,’ or ‘He has you too now!’ 

God those words were really raising up his fear even more, Law thought.

Robin had actually opened the door to the hospital just as Law had gotten there.

“What is-?”

Law didn’t have time to even answer her as he moved quickly past her inside.

Law could feel the blood dripping down his arms now as he moved inside. He entered the surgery room but not without having to stop a bit to open the door,

“Tony-ya!” Law called out. 

“Law?” Chopper said from the research room.

“I need you in here now!” Law said, setting Luffy carefully on the surgery table. He moved to washing his blood soaked hand in the sink as quickly as he could.

“Luffy!” Chopper cried out. 

“He’s been hit by a piece of shrapnel at the front of his chest. It had penetrated through all the way. May have a form of concussion after being in direct contact of the blast.” Law said quickly as he began to put on his surgical gloves and readied the equipment.

“I need you to assist me, Tony-ya. Can you-”

“I will help you Law.” Chopper said in a determined tone before getting gloves of his own.

Law was very thankful he didn’t have to do this completely alone. He knew he had to turn off the part of his brain that kept telling him this was Luffy he was working on.

The same person an older brother had entrusted him with. The person who had been around him the most these past couple of days.

It was these thoughts that would raise his adrenaline even further. Law couldn’t afford such a mistake. One shaky hand and it’s over.

Law took a deep breath before starting the operation.

A five hour long surgery. 

Law felt ready to collapse after finishing. The rush of adrenaline in the beginning certainly didn’t help with his stamina levels. 

Law took a look at Luffy’s body resting on the bed. They were lucky to have the right machines that Luffy needed in order to preserve his life.

Chopper didn’t seem even the bit exhausted but looked to Law straight in the eyes and said, “Now you,”

“Excuse me?”

“You have burn marks just like Luffy. Your leg that you’ve been standing on this entire time has been bleeding and you’re obviously suffering from a mild concussion.” Chopper said, taking his hand to bring him to sit down on a chair in the next room over.

Law didn’t even have the time to worry about what injuries he had. Of course Chopper would berate him for these things.

“I wanted to stop you.” Chopper said, moving Law’s pants leg up on his leg leg, “But I took one look and knew you weren’t going to sit back and let me operate on Luffy on my own.”

Law said nothing.

He knew that it wasn’t the right thing to do. Not in a long shot, so many things could have gone wrong from Law’s stubbornness. 

Law winced at the very small piece of metal being taken out by Chopper.

Chopper seemed very focused on his task but Law could tell he wanted to ask something. 

“It happened slowly.” 

Chopper paused at Law’s comment but continued with the treatment.

“Or at least it seemed like it. I was right behind Mugiwara-ya. And an explosion went off in the exploration room. But right before that…” Law paused unsure of how to proceed on this next part, “We saw Ace in the exploration room.”

Chopper had just finished. Law was slightly glad because his hands shook a bit at that part.

“Oh,” Chopper said simply. 

Law still felt somewhat dizzy, maybe even nauseous. So he took the silence between the two to rest his mind a bit. He knew he should go to sleep and get some rest but his mind was too filled with worries and questions that haven’t been answered.

“Did Luffy land on top of you?” Chopper asked, taking a look at his chest. 

Law looked down to see the weird cut that was on his chest. The same place Luffy landed on him.

“The shrapnel from Luffy,” Law nodded, “He stopped it from going through me as well.”

Chopper began to clean the wound when a knock was heard from the door.

Ms. Nico stood with a concerned look, “How are you feeling Law?”

“I’m feeling fine,” Law lied through his teeth. He still felt like shit. Bandages on his chest, legs, and some parts of his arms thanks to the small burns. However Law didn’t want to take away from the main issue at hand.

“Chopper how is he doing?” Ms. Nico turned to Chopper, ignoring what Law had said.

“He needs a lot of rest.” Chopper answered as though he wasn’t in the room.

“I’m doing fine. I know my symptoms.” 

That part wasn’t technically a lie but they didn’t have to know that.

Ms. Nico gave him a look before continuing, “Everyone is in the waiting room now. Do you wish for me to relay Luffy’s condition?”

Chopper and Law looked at one another but Law rose to his feet.

“Wait Law, I can-!”

“Chopper,” Law said, bending down slightly to meet his eyes, “Thank you for your help. You should rest now. I’ll deal with their questions.”

Chopper’s lip trembled slightly as he tried to keep his brave face on. He nodded making a noise of agreement, trying to discreetly wipe his forming tears.

Law could tell from the beginning that Chopper was still affected greatly by Luffy’s condition. It’d be hard not to when it’s your friend’s life on the line, that life that you’re responsible for.

Law limped slightly as he walked out with Ms. Nico to the waiting room. She made a suggestion to not walk but Law declined immediately.

Law entered the waiting room and saw Ms. Nico hadn’t been lying. Everyone was in fact in the waiting room, either sitting, standing, or in mid pace.

Hancock held Luffy’s strawhat in her hands while Zoro held Law’s hat with one hand. Law hadn’t even noticed that both had been blown off in the explosion.

Law did notice one more thing in the room. Ace wasn’t present with them.

Law was unsure how to feel about that point but decided to stray his thoughts away from that for now.

“How is Luffy? Is he okay?” Hancock asked in a panicked voice. Nami had to hold her back from completely walking over to Law. 

“I will explain his condition first.” Law said simply, “Then I will explain the events that took place beforehand as you all are probably well aware that only I and Mugiwara-ya were present for. Please allow me to get through everything before your questions because I have some of my own as well.”

Hancock sat back down and the others looked at him in silence for answers.

“Chopper and I did all that we could. By this category of operation, his life is currently still being preserved but his body had a good amount of damage. There’s no way of knowing if he will wake up.” Law said.

The room felt empty without Law’s voice echoing off the walls. The worried faces painted nearly over everyone.

“All we can do is wait to see if he does.” Law said before continuing to explain the events right before the explosion.

He explained Luffy inviting him to the exploration center at 1pm and the strange feeling he got in the dining hall. Law knew it somewhat risked some credibility by placing some of his actions on instinct but he couldn’t be bothered to come up with a way to lie. A lie would be more likely to hurt him anyways.

His mention of Ace certainly didn’t help the mood of the room, making some of the girls even begin to cry silently.

Law stopped his explanation briefly, allowing everyone to process the situation at hand.

“Now, may I ask some questions?” Law asked, not wanting to put too much on them at once.

“That’s going to have to wait.” a sing-song voice rang through the speakers.

Caesar appeared in a puff of smoke looking gleeful. Nearly everyone gave him a glare including Law. 

“I have an announcement to make! The fire is now under control! You may now start your investigation into the death of your dear classmate.” Caesar explained, “Let me remind you that there is a limited time frame to investigate before the class trial begins!”

“Wait a minute!” Nami yelled out, “How can you expect to just investigate when someone just died! How heartless-!”

“If you don’t want to investigate then I guess that’s just less clues to work with. After all, failure leads to everyone but the killer being punished.” Caesar said with a grin.

“What about the strawhat kid though?” Kid spoke up.

“What about him?” Caesar asked.

“If he dies, who is to say he wouldn't be considered responsible for it?” Kid pointed at Law.

Law narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly at that statement, “Are you fucking kiddi-?”

“I did not think of it like that before.” Caesar said with pursed lips, “From the way it went no, he’s not responsible. Whoever set the bomb would be. I’m only giving that free information for this because he hasn’t died … yet.”

Law didn’t know who to be more pissed off at. Kid for insulting his medical skills or Caesar for reminding him of that fact about Luffy’s situation.

“Fuck you Eustass-ya.” Law said flipping the bird at him.

Law wasn’t one to let anger get to him but this was just too much. He was beyond stressed and anxious about Luffy’s condition and now Kid and Caesar weren’t making it any better. 

“Like you would know the answer anyways.” Kid snapped back. 

“I would because I’m actually good at my tal-”

“Hey, hey calm down you too,” Sanji intervened standing between the two with Killer, “You’re both losing sight of what our goal is right now.”

“Yes, yes to catch the killer of course. And before I forget, you will be receiving the SMILE file in your handbooks to help in your investigation.” Caesar said.

Everyone got a small notification from the handbook. Law’s had a broken screen but still worked as he pulled up the file. 

It showed the victim, Portages D. Ace, time of death but gave no cause of death.

“All information that would point to the killer has been removed.” Caesar clarified before laughing, “Now, good luck to you all! If I were you I’d be worried about some no good people messing with the crime scene.” 

He left with a puff of smoke, disappearing after leaving that very incriminating message.

Law sighed, trying to calm his thoughts. It wasn’t easy thinking that one of them had killed Ace. He had just spoken to Ace just moments before this mess happened. 

“We will split into pairs for this assignment. I’d suggest we don’t give out any theories just yet as to not cause a commotion. We can’t afford to randomly point fingers.” Ms. Nico spoke in a commanding tone.

Ms. Nico went immediately to sort everyone into pairs and no one complained. 

Law believed that just like himself, it felt comforting to have an adult telling them what they should do for once. In a situation where no one knows what they’re doing, it’s easy to fall into arguments and chaos. 

Law was paired with Zoro thankfully. Law may have overlooked just how much Ms. Nico paid attention to the students as no one had a problem with their pairing, keeping those like Zoro and Sanji or Law and Kid away from each other. 

Everyone begins to nervously, but slowly, split from the group to go and explore. 

Chopper eventually exited the room and offered to Robin to go with her to the try and see if they could get any clues from Ace’s body. 

“I can do that Tony-ya, someone needs to watch over Luffy anyways.” Law said.

“No you should get some rest Law, I’ll look over the body.” Chopper said, having a determined look. 

“He’s right, you should rest.” Zoro said, obviously looking ready to take a nap. 

Law sent a look of annoyance towards him while turning back to Chopper, “I-”

“Law you should look in other areas,” Ms. Nico cut him off, “Chopper will do fine on his own.” 

Law reluctantly agreed while Hancock and Bonney (not really by choice) elected to stay behind to watch over Luffy’s condition. 

On the way out of the hospital Zoro handed Law his white hat with Law muttering a small thank you. Everyone else had mostly gone ahead of them while they walked a slower pace thanks to Law’s injured leg.

“Hey, why did the investigation not start right away?” Law asked, finally being able to get some answers of his own.

“By the time we got there the center was engulfed in flames. We spent a good minute trying to figure out if the explosion happened inside the hotel or not.” Zoro said, “The whole building practically shook.”

Law couldn’t remember just how big the explosion had been but if it was as bad as Zoro said it was, Law was even more surprised that he and Luffy had survived that.

Law was still trying to get past the fact that Luffy being in front of him more than likely saved his life in more ways than one. Yes, he blocked the major pieces of the explosion from hitting him, but Law had a small feeling that Luffy’s immense amount of luck played a role in protecting Law as well. 

“So then Caesar told everyone to hold off until the flames were under control.” Zoro continued, “Apparently he can shoot more than just that weird slime from the guns planted everywhere.”

“At least he was useful for something.” Law said.

Zoro grinned at that before dropping it, “It was so strange at first because like you said, the body announcement was cut off by the explosion. No one had anytime to process or react even. Some missed the message entirely.”

“It says even here on the handbook the death happened before the explosion. So whoever set it can’t even be held as responsible.” Law said pointing to the time of death that states 12:25pm. 

Ace had been dead for around 15 minutes before anyone found him. Not a huge amount of time but still significant. 

“Maybe we should look for the stuff that could have built the bomb in the first place.” Zoro said nodding over to the warehouse.

Law agreed as they entered inside. Killer, Apoo, and Kid were already inside with Kid and Apoo arguing over something.

“I’m telling you, it was right here! Who took it?!” Kid yelled pointing at a certain area in his workspace.

“How am I supposed to know that?” Apoo said disinterestedly.

“BECAUSE YOU-!”

“Please stop your screeching for five seconds. I’m still trying to get over this concussion.” Law said in a monotone voice.

“Then go back to sleep, you insomniac!” Kid yelled before turning away grumbling something incoherent.

“Hold on a second,” Zoro said pointing to Kid and Killer, “I thought the shitty cook was with you two.”

“Yeah, Usopp went investigating with Sanji instead. Said something about having a I-will-die-if-I-don’t-investigate-with-a-cook disease.” Apoo said with a shrug. 

“And you believed him?” Law asked, mostly as a dry joke. 

He only received two blank stares from Kid and Apoo. Killer just looked disappointed in the back. 

“How has the fucking human race survived this long?” Law groaned, running his hand through his hair. 

“Anyways, what is going on here?” Zoro asked, looking at Kid. 

“Someone messed with my system earlier. Apoo was the only person nearby it and now some stuff is messing in here!” Kid yelled.

“You mean like stuff that can be used to make a bomb?” Law questioned. 

“If you’re accusing me-” 

“I’m not, I’m pretty certain you and Killer have been around each other this entire time, yesterday and today. Generally it’d be a very stupid idea to be the one to build a bomb when you’re the only one with direct access to the materials.” Law explained.

Law could swear he saw Kid was still processing his words for a second, unsure of what exactly Law had just explained. 

“So the materials did come from here, that’s what we have gotten from this.” Zoro said. 

“Not all. Sure it had the gas and wires here. But because it was a gas there needs to be something to light it in the first place. And all my stuff that used for that is still here.” Kid said. 

“So there’s a missing lighter somewhere around here.” Law said. 

“I would just like to say that the three of us basically spent the entire day by each other’s side.” Killer spoke up, “Unless it had been on a timer and placed before hand I don’t think it was any of us.”

“We’re gonna have to wait and see at the trial for anyone really to be cleared.” Zoro shrugged.

Law and Zoro left the warehouse to keep on their search. Law thought how Kid and him seemed to just have general tense air around each other at all times. Law wanted to blame that entirely on Kid’s first real impression with him, but Law couldn’t be too sure. 

What weird him out more was that Apoo and Kid were constantly around each other yet never really liked one another?

“He’s so confusing I swear.” Law muttered under his breath.

“Kid?” Zoro asked.

“Yeah, one second he hits on me, next blames me for murder, then goes back to being civil.” Law said with a sigh. 

“He just seems all over the place. It’s sort of understandable given the high emotional stress this place brings every now and then.” Zoro said.

“I’m confused as to even why the two hang around each other so much if they hate each other.” Law said.

“As long as they’re not wrecking the place, it should be fine.” Zoro shrugged, “But where do you think we can find a lighter?”

Law thought for a moment before suggesting, “The storage room?” 

“Where’s the storage room?” Zoro asked.

“It’s just by the elevator on the opposite side of the stairway on the second floor. We should go look over there.” Law said. 

The two walked inside the hotel lobby when Zoro asked, “What did Ace talk to you about before you got to lunch?” 

Law realized just how bad that last conversation could make him look. As far as he knew, he may have literally been the last one to actually see Ace alive or to talk to him. 

“He just said something about …” Law froze at his thoughts. Zoro looked at him waiting for an answer. “He said … to watch over his brother.” 

The silence between the two as they entered the elevator was deafening. Law didn’t even know if Zoro believed his words. Law didn’t even know if he could handle being a room with everyone blaming or pointing fingers at him for the death of Ace. After all, the last one seen with him is awfully incriminating. 

“He apologized to me about his attitude towards me. I didn’t mind much but he was insistent. He looked very sweaty though, and said he had just come back from the gym.” Law continued. 

He decided if he was already incriminating himself, he may as well give out all the information he had. 

“Ace was at the gym beforehand. Did you see where he went after that?” Zoro questioned. Law was beginning to feel as though he was on an actual witness stand at the moment. 

“No, I just knew he exited the hotel and I went straight to the dining hall to meet with you and Sanji-ya.” Law answered. 

Zoro made a ‘mm’ sound before silence fell between the two again. 

After a second, Zoro spoke up, “If you’re thinking I think you did it, you’re wrong.” 

Law glanced at Zoro’s face to see if there was a change in expression but there was none. Law felt only slightly relieved at his words. 

“Timing doesn’t make any sense for one thing.” Zoro continued, “No way you did that in such a short amount of time. Also just my gut in general.” 

Law nearly scoffed at that, “Your gut?”

“I mean it does have to do a lot with you completely ignoring your own injuries to save Luffy.” Zoro added. 

“I could have been faking it.” 

“Yeah, I doubt that.” Zoro gave a small smile to Law.

Law didn’t know how to respond, but luckily he didn’t have too as they arrived at the storage room. Law let Zoro get a look around first, not only because he didn’t want to just take charge of the investigation but because he was beginning to feel a little dizzy and leaned against the wall discreetly for support. 

Law questioned if it might be a good idea to follow Chopper’s advice and go get some rest for only a moment. He knew he couldn’t afford to not attend this class trial. Not attending could lead to him wrongfully being placed as the guilty party mostly because he had been there at the scene of the crime and had been the last to speak with Ace. 

“I don’t think I see anything.” Zoro said after a while of searching.

Law looked around before looking up on the left side of the storage room.

“What about this high shelf?” Law asked.

“I think I need a ladder to reach that… why is it so high up?” Zoro questioned.

The shelf was higher than both Zoro and Law could reach and Law was pretty tall in general. It was strange how the room didn’t match up with the door frame.

Law ended up having to move a box to stand on so he could reach. He couldn’t even see it, just had to feel for anything that was there. Law moved around until he felt a small box under his hand.

Law stepped off the box, getting a good look, it was a box of lighters. 

“Well, whoever was seen in the storage room could be held as a suspect then.” Zoro said. Law seemed more skeptical, “No, look at this.” 

Law gave one of the lighters to Zoro so he could get a closer look at it. “It’s empty?” Zoro said shocked, “Then what the hell is the purpose of putting these things here?” 

“Not sure, but I don’t think any of these had lighter fluid to begin with.” Law commented, “That or someone removed it all? Either way, one of them is missing from the box.” 

Zoro seemed really annoyed by this, “Why does this have to be so complicated?”

“To be fair, someone is probably trying to get away with murder.” Law said. 

“That’s true, maybe there’s something to find in Ace’s room.” Zoro said offhandedly. “Do we even have access to that?” Law asked. 

“Of course you do!” Caesar said, appearing from what seemed thin air. Zoro and Law both slightly jumped at his voice, turning to glare at him. 

“All victims will have their rooms opened for investigation.” Caesar said, “Of course they have much use for it anymore. Better be careful though, maybe one your own classmates has messed with the room.” 

Caesar added the last part with a singy-song tone, mocking them as he disappeared again. 

“I can’t tell if he’s ever serious.” Zoro grumbled, before heading off to the elevator. Law made sure to hold on to one of the empty lighters before going towards the elevator as well. 

When they had arrived, no other students were in the room yet. Zoro opened the door, unlocked as Caesar had said, finding the room to be seemingly normal. 

Sure there was a shirt offhanded on the floor and a messy bed but nothing out of the ordinary. Law had thought they had honestly hit a dead end. That was until he took a look at the notebook inside of the desk. 

The pen was left uncapped next to it, but the notebook had pages ripped out of it. 

“Roronoa-ya.” Law called picking up the notebook. Zoro came from the restroom that was inside the room, “Find something?” 

“Ace-ya must have written in the notebook.” Law held it up for Zoro to see. 

“Is there anything actually written?” 

“No, none of the other pages have writing, but these pages have slight indents.” Law pointed to the page just after what was left of the ripped pages, “There’s only three pages missing, but someone could have taken it or Ace-ya took them himself.” 

“If he took them himself, then that means they’re gone now.” Zoro muttered. 

Law had to agree on that one, “We should still search to see if they’re hidden in the room. It’d be much smarter to hide them inside of having them out in the open.” 

The two searched the room, turning it practically upside down when two other people came in. 

“What the hell are you two doing?!” Sanji yelled, standing at the doorway.

“Searching the room, obviously.” Zoro said, holding the matters up while Law took a look under it. 

“Don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?” Usopp asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Law gave a quick summary to the two, knowing if the swordsmen did it, it would end in a duel with the blonde cook. Law would rather avoid that headache all together. 

“Do you think Luffy probably has the pages?” Sanji suggested. 

Law and Zoro both paused. 

Law felt severely disappointed in himself for not even thinking that. He decided to blame it on his concussion and not from hanging around Luffy and Zoro too long.

“Ace could have given it to him, or maybe it doesn’t have to do with the death at all.” Sanji suggested but shrugged. 

“That’s a good point but that doesn’t mean we still shouldn’t search where we can. There still remains the possibility of someone stealing it before the body was even found.” Law said.

“You’re right,” Sanji said, rubbing his neck. “This whole thing is so complicated. I was hoping it would be a little more straightforward.” Usopp added, “And I feel sort of bad…”

“Feel bad about what?” Zoro asked. 

Usopp sort of tensed up a bit at that before answering, “I saw Ace just a bit before the … you know.” 

“Care to be more specific?” Law asked. He knew that he could piece together some sort of timeline of what happened before the explosion, so any bit of information counted. 

“Okay, okay, so I saw him leaving his room around 12 ish. I had gone back to my room to get an extra shirt because Luffy and I were at the gym on the second floor.” 

“Wait, you, Mugiwara-ya, and Ace-ya went to work out at the gym, correct?” Law asked, seeing if he got that information right. 

Usopp looked confused, “No, it was just me and Luffy there most of the time, Luffy left ahead of me to do something I forgot. All I remember was that he was complaining about not eating.” 

“So that’s why he didn’t show up for his second snack. He was hanging around with you.” Sanji said, “I remember Apoo asking where he was around that time.” 

“Did Ace come for breakfast this morning?” Law asked. 

“No, he didn’t. He actually walked past saying he had to go somewhere really quick but I didn’t see him afterwards. That must have been around 6 or 7am?” Sanji said. 

“You didn’t even see where he was going, cook?” Zoro asked, annoyed. “Hey! I don’t remember everything, everyone was doing okay!” Sanji said, rather annoyed. 

“That timing checks out. I went to the rooftop at 7 in the morning and I saw Ace walking towards the hotel and not to make this sound incriminating, Nami and Vivi going to the exploration center.” Law said, “This means we still have that gap of time of not knowing where he went from possibly 6 to 7. He went back to the room and came out around 12, talked to me really quick, and headed to the exploration center.” 

The rest were quiet, unsure of what to make of the information. 

“Another quick thing, Ace-ya lied to me in our talk.” Law said.

“You’re calling him a liar now?” Usopp said in shock. 

“Well I noticed that he was rather sweaty, maybe even unwell but he said he was at the gym.” Law said then looked at Usopp who looked ready to defend himself, “As you’ve said he wasn’t even at the gym so that’s why I said, he lied.” 

“What if it’s Usopp lying?” Zoro said, pointing to him.

“Oi!” Usopp yelled. 

“I know it’s much more difficult without hard evidence, but I can tell you from my observations that he didn’t look like he came back from a workout.” Law said. 

“Well maybe he did in his room?” Sanji asked but rubbing his forehead, “These possibilities just keep increasing.” 

“Speculating here is wasting time. We should keep searching.” Zoro cut in. 

Law nodded at that. Zoro and Law both left Sanji and Usopp after thanking them for the new information. It was only ten second afterward they left the room did they hear a:

“OI YOU BASTARDS LEFT THE ROOM A MESS!” 

Zoro and Law gave each other a look, before closing the elevator door on Sanji’s yells from them to come back. 

“I don’t understand how you remember the day so well.” Zoro said, “I know I was at the warehouse with Kid and Killer in the morning.”

“Yeah, I saw that too.” Law said, “Didn’t Ace pass you then?” 

“That’s the thing I don’t remember. But we should see where Nami and Vivi are. See what they know.” Zoro said. “The exploration center is my best bet.” Law mumbled. 

The two passed Shirahoshi and Carrot on the way over. It was at the time did Law get an actual good look at the damage. The last time he had seen it, the place was covered in flames. Law didn’t even know if it would have been really visible had his vision been normal.

Before Zoro and Law could go any further towards the building, something caught Law’s eye near the restrooms on the side of it. The restroom building was made from concert and had only some dark mark ons the side of the fire but no other damage. 

“Law?” Zoro called when Law strayed from their path. Law stopped in front of the restroom door to see some sort of substance on the floor. 

“If this is what I think it is…” Law said, opening the door to the men’s restroom. Inside, the trial continued to one of the stalls. 

“Is this vomit?” Zoro said, looking disgusted. 

“Yes, they were in such a rush they didn’t even flush it down.” Law said, “Unless anyone else can attest to being here, this has to be from Ace-ya.” 

Zoro stared at Law, as though waiting for something. 

“Well?” Zoro asked, as if it was obvious. 

“Well what?”

“You have got to something figured out? Aren’t you a doctor?”

“I was studying to be one I’m not-”

“Same difference.” Zoro waved it away, “Ace was sweaty and then threw up. Ya got anything from that?”

Law didn’t know if he was serious or not at this point. “I can’t diagnose something from just those two symptoms. I’m not-”

“We can ask Chopper I guess.” Zoro shrugged before leaving the restroom. 

So it’s not just Mugiwara-ya who has selective hearing, Law thought to himself. 

The two went to see what was left of the exploration center. The building was reduced to crumbling wood and was a mere shadow of the bright place it had been before. Nami was there in the rubble looking around with Vivi. Nami looked dejected as she searched. 

“Oh, Zoro.” Nami said looking up, “How's your guy’s search going?” 

“Haven’t gotten that much information to be honest. We have a general timeline of events but nothing even close to who set this thing off.” Zoro answered. 

“Yeah, everything here is just … ashes. Kid and his group came by earlier to see if we could find the bomb but nothing.” Vivi said, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Didn’t Chopper say he would do the autopsy?” Law asked, trying to get straight to the point. He could already see that they could get easily distracted again. His headache wasn’t going to let up anytime soon either.

“He did come by but … there wasn’t much left.” Nami managed to get out, “This place is just a big dead end.” Vivi nodded in agreement. 

Zoro went on to explain to the two of them what Law and he had found. While Zoro talked, Law did his best to maintain his balance. His mind was coming in and out of focus a bit too much for his liking. Law wondered if he still had time to grab some pain killers for his migraine before the investigation was called off. 

As soon as Zoro was finished Law said, “Can we stop by the hospital center really quick?” 

“Trafalgar-san! You don’t look very good.” Vivi said, moving to reach him. “Vivi’s right, you look pale!” Nami said. 

“I just need to take some medication. I’ll be fine.” Law said, motioning Zoro to follow. 

“How much time do you think we have left?” Zoro asked, looking around their area. “I don’t think we have much. He never said how much in the first place.” Law answered. 

This is also a good opportunity to check on Mugiwara-ya, Law thought. His condition may have changed in the last hour or so. 

“GODDAMN IT!” 

Kid’s voice boomed suddenly from the warehouse, along with something big crashing down inside. 

Law only gave Zoro a look before they both walked a bit quicker past the warehouse. They arrived at the hospital center that had Bonney, Hancock, Robin, and Chopper. They all were in the largest patient’s room with Luff, still unconscious. 

“How is the investigation going?” Robin asked, looking up from her book. 

“Not much was really found,” Zoro said, tired of explaining the story again and again. “We’ll bring out what we saw later. Has his condition changed?” Law asked, looking towards Chopper. 

“No, it hasn’t changed.” Chopper said, “And about the autopsy. It wasn’t really possible.” 

“It’s fine, we were informed by Nami-ya and Nefertari-ya.” Law said, before turning to leave. He caught a glance at Luffy’s unmoving form. The machines seemed more alive then he did, beeping in the background. 

“Hold it, where exactly are you going?” Hancock said rather accusingly. 

Law sighed, looking irritated. He had hoped he could just have gotten the medicine without any fuss but it didn’t seem likely now. 

“I’m getting some pain killers for this headache.” 

Chopper only gave him a disapproving look. 

“I’m fine, I’m conscious enough to walk around and stand. That should be enough.” Law said, before leaving the room. He went to the small storage like room that held all of the medicines and other instruments needed. 

It was close to the entrance of the place and had a small light. It didn’t take long to find the painkillers but another section made him stop. He noticed a medicine bottle that would have been there on the antidepressants row wasn’t there. 

“Oi,” 

Law almost jumped at Zoro’s deep voice coming from behind him. 

“Chopper said to make sure to write down what you took. Way organizing stuff I guess.” Zoro said. “This list?” Law picked up the clipboard hanging on the wall. It had no names on it yet. 

Law wrote his name down quickly, before going back to the room. “Tony-ya, can I ask you something outside?” 

Chopper looked slightly confused. More than likely this was as to why Law couldn’t ask in front of others. 

“Did someone take medicine from the room other than me?” Law asked when they were outside the room, away from everyone else. Law knew just in case for confidentiality, someone taking the medicine bottle without writing it may not have wanted that out for the world. Law understood that, but he still needed to ask Chopper. 

“Uh no, no one did. Why?” Chopper asked. 

“There’s a missing medicine bottle from one of the anti-depressants.” 

“Huh?! Wait a moment.” Chopper went back to check inside with Law following behind him. “You’re right! It wasn’t like that this morning at all!” Chopper said, panicking, “When I first got here with Robin they were all filled.” 

“Did anyone come in at any point today?” Law asked. 

Chopper thought for a second but the loud speakers began to ring. 

“I’m getting really bored waiting here,” Caesar’s voice echoed off the walls of the hallway, “It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The class trial! Without further ado, I’ll give you all the rendezvous point!”

Law took two of the pills during the announcement. He wondered if he should take them with him in the trial. 

“All students, please meet at the steps of the front of the hotel. See all of you very soon!” Caesar ended it with his strange laughter before cutting it off. 

“Hold on a second, what about Luffy?!” Chopper yelled, trying to get Caesar;s attention.

“He might make us leave him.” Law said. “That’s-!”

A purple smoke erupted from outside while Caesar spoke, “Fine, fine, the straw hat kid doesn’t have to go to the trial,”

“That isn’t what we were concerned about. Of course, he would have to sit out the class trial. Are you stupid?” Law said, annoyed. 

“Hey! Don’t start getting all smart with me Trafalgar Law!” Caesar yelled in a mocking tone. 

“Never say my name again.” 

“Hold on!” Chopper interrupted, “We need at least Law or I to monitor him! I think it’s best that Law stays though. He-” 

“Shut up kid, I get to decide that.” Caesar snapped, “I’ll have someone monitor him while the trial is happening. We’re already missing one student participating, I don't want another to try and get away with that too.” 

“You swear like he’s not unconscious. Do you really consider yourself a scientist?” Law said in a monotone voice, seemingly unimpressed. 

Caesar seemed ready to burst from rage while Chopper said, “As long as someone monitors Luffy, he should be fine. Let’s go Law.” Chopper obviously didn’t want to see Caesar get mad and pulled Law away. 

Law noted that it seemed that there were in fact other people working with Caesar behind the scenes. While that seemed obvious at first, it was now confirmed for certain someone else was watching them live in the cage. 

Law followed out with the rest that were inside the hospital center. They arrived at the front with everyone else already there. They stood in silence, eyes wandering to everywhere but each other’s eyes. The tension was so thick, Law could almost see it weighing down on everyone. 

Law was certain everyone wanted to ask when they were present in the front for. A discussion nearing the night time outside seemed rather anti-climatic. 

Their questions were answered as they heard a loud noise come from below their feet. The ground moved from behind them. A large cement building rose to the top of the ground that had no indication of every being there. The building reminded Law of an old Spanish design. 

“Inside of here is the elevator that will take you to the courtroom!” Caesar said from the steps of the hotel suddenly, scaring some of the girl’s into yelping. 

“The same courtroom will determine your fates!” Caesar said, before leaving in his puff of smoke. 

“I don’t think I want to go in there.” Shirahoshi spoke up, hugging herself in fear.

“We don’t exactly have a choice.” Nami muttered worryingly. 

“Heistating here will gain us nothing.” Zoro spoke up, “We have to accept what we choose in there.”

That seemed to encourage everyone a bit more to enter inside. The elevator’s interior was rather vintage, contrasting the Spanish design on the outside. 

The elevator brought them all down, further and further. Each second felt like an entirety to Law. Knowing that someone among the group could have killed Ace, had the will to kill. Although with the evidence he had put together, he had a pretty solid idea on who the culprit could be and how they did it. 

But it wouldn’t be that easy.

Deception can be used in this trial, random accusations could be thrown out. The entirety of the trial could spiral out of control in seconds if done wrong. 

This wasn’t just a matter of being right, but also being able to convince others of your logic. Law had to watch his step here. He was up as a number one suspect in some of their minds whether it was true or not. 

The elevator still continued downward, with each moment having Law’s chest feel heavier. He wondered if this was how death row inmates felt before being executed. 

Law’s mind, against all his wishes, rang the last words Ace said to him over and over. Feeling more and more liable as it repeated the words:

“I’m counting on you to help me out though Law! Luffy can be a big handful sometimes! See ya around!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trial will be next chapter :DDD


	5. Stolen Wills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Trial begins as Law is tries to convince himself he doesn’t need a nap and the others argue over the confusing information.
> 
> (might have worked on this instead of my college app essays- )

“This place looks like shit.”

Law would have laughed if it wasn’t Kid saying that. 

But he had to agree, the courtroom was very ugly. 

“Please tell me you didn’t actually pay for an interior designer.” Nami shivered, “At least if you picked it out, you wouldn’t have been scammed on that.” 

Vivi had a hard time covering up her laughter at that one. 

“Now don’t let your guard down!” Caesar said, appearing on a large chair in front of all the stands. The stands each had a name facing each other in a huge circle. Only one was filled by the stand holding Ace’s portrait up with a large X mark over it. 

“Take your place at your designated stand and the class trial will begin!” 

Law felt the hesitance in everyone as they each found their place. Each person looked around worryingly of how this would play out. It was their lives on the line after all. 

Law wondered how Luffy was doing back at the hospital center. Caesar had said someone would watch him but who? Would they even say anything if Luffy’s health started to decline further? 

Law didn’t even know how much time they had to spend here, or how much time they had. 

“I’ll give you all a basic explanation before you all start to go savage.” Caesar said, “During the trial you'll present your arguments for who the culprit is and vote for ‘whodunit.’ Vote correctly and only the culprit will be punished. But if you pick the wrong person, I'll punish everyone besides the culprit and that person will be able to leave the resort. Also refusing to vote will result in your death so you better vote for someone. Now let’s not waste any more of your time, after all you only have a limited time to discuss this!”

“How much time do we have?” Nami spoke first.

“I’ll end it when I feel like it.” Caesar said lazily sitting on his high chair. 

“So there is no set time limit!” Nami said angrily.

“Nami, we can’t let him get to us.” Vivi said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “We’ll only waste time here.” 

Nami nodded at this while everyone began to shift in their stands. 

“Where do we even start?” Bonney asked, putting a hand on her head. 

Law had an idea but his headache was worsening. He couldn’t take another dose of the medication for another four hours though. He was just going to have to ignore it until the trial was over. 

“What about the damn bomb?” Kid boomed through the otherwise quiet courtroom, “Not just anyone knows how to build those things so fess up already!”

“Oh yeah, telling the culprit to give is definitely going to work.” Apoo scoffed. Kid looked ready to yell back at him but thankfully Nami interjected. 

“Law, you were there at the scene right before it exploded right?” 

“I was, Luffy was there first however.” Law answered. 

“Did you happen to see where the bomb was placed?” Nami asked. 

“What caught my attention was the clicking noise it was making, so by my guess it must have been right on top of the desk to the left.” Law said. 

He wasn’t sure himself where it was placed. The entire memory was getting fuzzier each time he recalled it. 

“Then it’d have to take place after 11 am then.” Vivi said, “Nami and I were both at the exploration center. There’s no way either of us could have placed the bomb before that time.” 

“What if one’s covering for the other?” Kid accused. 

“Hey! Vivi wouldn’t-!”

“Nami, please refrain yourself.” Ms. Nico stepped in before facing Kid, “It states clearly in the rules that only the culprit will be able to leave. Therefore this makes the idea of an accomplice highly unlikely.” 

Kid stayed quiet after that while Nami looked grateful. 

“Okay but the materials for the bomb are near impossible to get in the first place.” Bonney said, “The only person with that kind of stuff is you Kid.” 

“Hold on a second, I have the stuff but I didn’t do it!” Kid said, “Killer was by me basically the entire time!” 

“I was by him most of the time, including Apoo.” Killer confirmed. 

“Wait, wasn’t Apoo messing around with your stuff Kid?” Zoro asked, “And he asked about where Luffy was at some point today.” 

All eyes were on Apoo. 

“Whoa whoa! First of all, I never even went by the exploration room ever. Second, I messed around with his stuff for the fun of it. I don’t know how to make a freaking bomb!” Apoo defended. 

“Then what about asking about Luffy?” Sanji asked. 

“Wanted to know if he played an instrument duh,” Apoo said, “Killer was the one who made me ask in the first place!” 

Killer looked slightly panicked, “Yeah, I did do that. But Apoo is right, we never went by the exploration center.” 

“But then where did the materials come from?” Nami asked, almost to herself. 

Law was beginning to wonder if he was hearing this conversation correctly. He had thought it was obvious the bomb wasn’t the cause of death, so why wasn’t Zoro saying anything? He was certain he had informed Zoro that the bomb being the cause of death was next to none. 

But then again the group was talking about it as though they were positive that the bomb came first, then the announcement. Law was now confused by his own memory, trying to remember if he had heard everything correctly. 

“You! Long nosed!” Hancock said suddenly. 

“Uh yeah?” Usopp said, confused. 

“You were spending a lot of time with Luffy before the explosion! Did you set it?” Hancock said in the most outright accusing tone Law’s ever heard. 

“Wait, wait, I did but that was only at the gym on the second floor!” Usopp said.

“There were also the lighters in the storage room on the second floor. And weren’t you around that place?” Zoro asked. 

Law wondered if Zoro just forgot a good chunk of the information they had gathered. Law was still figuring out the best way to bring up his argument, so he let them continue. 

“Wait a minute, there’s lighters around the place?” Kid asked. 

“Oh the one’s in the storage room?” Sanji asked, “Yeah I’ve seen those I think a day or two around but all the lighter fluid was gone. I was trying to use it to get the stove working properly. Oh Kid, I still need your help with that.” 

“Yeah, I need like a day or two until it’s fixed.” Kid answered. 

“Back on topic,” Nami called, “Usopp, did you go to the storage room for a lighter?” 

“I didn’t!” Usopp said, “I was there on the first day for a bit I’ll admit. But I never saw a lighter there.” 

“Not a box of empty lighters?” Zoro asked. 

“Hey he could have drained them!” Apoo said. 

“I did not see that! Hold on, I was with you guys at the time of the explosion anyways!” Usopp said pointing at Apoo. 

“Yeah the four of us were there from around 11 to late 12.” Kid said, “So it really couldn’t have been the four of us.” 

“Can everyone be attested for during that time then? After 11 but before 12:30 ish?” Vivi asked. 

It had turned out that Vivi’s buddy system had worked out very well in this situation. The girls were mostly in the kitchen with Law, Zoro, and Sanji. Usopp had gone to the warehouse with Kid, Killer, and Apoo where they had been talking to Luffy until he had left. Chopper and Robin were in the medical center. 

“Wait a minute, that leaves him as the only one to be near the place.” Kid said pointing at Law. 

This again? Law asked himself, nearly rolling his eyes at him.

He couldn’t afford to get riled up, he had to get to the actual important information.

“Before that, I have a question for you Caesar.” Law said. 

Everyone turned to the scientist and was still lazily sitting on his chair, now with a bag of popcorn. He slowly ate as he looked on at the bored. Caesar waved his hand, motioning for Law to continue.

“It’s stated in the rulebook that three members of the game are to discover the body before it is reported correct?” Law asked. 

“Oh yeah, three people are needed each time to discover the body.” Caesar said not really paying attention. 

“You didn’t happen to announce the body discovery before three people discovered it, meaning they entered the building after Ace-ya died?” 

Caesar sat upright at this, “How dare you! I don’t slack off on my job you know! I didn’t mess up anything.” 

“Then those three people wouldn’t be the culprits given they discovered the body.” Law said simply. 

Caesar opened his mouth to say something before stopping. His eyes widened comically large as he realized what he did. 

“YOU-!” Caesar yelled. 

“So that means the first three people to discover it, Law, Luffy, and … a third person aren’t the killers?” Carrot asked. 

“You’re not allowed to ask me any more questions!” Caesar yelled at Law, while he simply shrugged. 

“Either way, this just confirms that the bomb is not the cause of death here and we’re wasting time on it.” Law said, “We can-”

“Hey! There’s a third person here who hasn’t said anything about seeing the body. What gives?” Bonney said, interrupting Law. 

“Hold on, that doesn’t make any sense.” Sanji said, “How would a person even get to the exploration center when everyone is accounted for?” 

“Are you sure you didn’t mess up making the announcement?” Nami asked, looking unimpressed at Caesar. 

“I did not make any mistakes!” Caesar yelled, “The disrespect in this courtroom!”

“But surely someone would say something about seeing a body, wouldn’t they?” Shirahoshi asked nervously. 

“Unless there is an accomplice!” Hancock said. 

“There is only one possibility here.” Law spoke up, “The third person wanted to mess with the crime scene.” 

“But why would they do that on purpose? It’s their lives on the line too!” Chopper asked, holding on to his hat. 

“You said it yourself Caesar.” Law turned to glare towards him, “You want this game to be more interesting right? Then what’s more interesting than a bomb being placed?” 

“Are you saying that Caesar did it?” Usopp asked, looking bewildered. 

“No, I am saying that one of us is a traitor.” Law said, still glaring at Caesar. 

At this everyone looked around in fear. Meeting and avoiding each other's eyes quickly so as to not seem suspicious. The thought had never occurred to anyone of them, that someone would willingly try to mess with the game to get them all killed. 

“I didn’t intend on saying this beforehand.” Ms. Nico spoke up, “However, there was something interesting about this class. I was only told I’d be teaching 14 students, not 15 students.” 

“But doesn’t Ace not count?” Shirahoshi spoke up slightly, making everyone turn to her. This made her falter under the attention but she continued anyway, “Ace said himself that he was a year above us and wasn’t in the same class as Luffy, right?” 

“There are fifteen of us here.” Nami pointed out, “Without Ace there’s 15 students, but you were only supposed to teach 14?” 

“Yes, as to not cause too much confusion. Originally a 15th student was planned on attending but they transferred out at the last minute. I would have technically teached only 14 but 15 students are present in this game either way.” Ms. Nico explained. 

“But couldn’t they be here anyways?” Chopper asked, “Since you didn’t know any of our names beforehand?” 

Mrs. Nico shook her head, “I was only able to learn the transferred student’s name, which was   
Rob Lucci, and that is no one here as you can tell. I was not informed of anyone else that would be attending beforehand.” 

This only confirmed what Law had said even further, making everyone feel even more worried about who it could be. Who was the extra student? 

Caesar cackled at this, “I didn’t expect you all to figure this out so quickly, but I guess what’s partly my fault. Oh well, yes there is a secret mastermind among you.” 

“So that's the same person who tried to mess with Ace’s body?” Zoro said, “And was the person who set the bomb in the first place.”

“But everyone is accounted for! It shouldn’t even be possible!” Vivi said. 

“But they could possibly be the only one with access to even make a bomb like that in the first place.” Killer added. 

“Yeah, bomb information doesn’t get around too easily, so just anyone building that thing isn’t likely.” Kid said. 

“Whatever the case is, it doesn’t matter right now.” Law said, “We’re in the debate for Ace-ya’s death. We can discuss the mastermind issue at a later time.” 

“He's right, we need to focus on Ace’s actual killer.” Vivi said, “Who was the last person to see Ace … alive?” 

“Law did.” Zoro said, pointing at him without a second of hesitation. 

Law was beginning to feel tired of all eyes being on him. He knew this was the reason he had to be here in the first place. Going to rest from his injuries would only leave the group without his statement. He would easily be placed as the wrongful killer leading everyone to their deaths. 

“I did in fact speak with Ace, however thanks to Rorona-ya and Sanji-ya, they can confirm I didn’t speak with him for very long.” Law informed, “I did notice that when I spoke with him, something was amiss.” 

“How long did you speak with him though?” Apoo asked. 

“The max was probably 15 minutes.” Zoro spoke up, “He didn’t take long and showed up in the main hall afterwards.” 

Law was grateful for another’s input, “Right, as you can see, not very much time. But he seemed off. You could say nervous, slightly sweaty, and just very tense.” 

“Whoa, that sounds very suspicious!” Carrot said, surprised. 

“No kidding.” Bonney said in a sarcastic tone. 

“Wait yeah, I saw him exit his room and he did look sort of off.” Usopp chimed in, “This was after Luffy left me though, around twelve.” 

“I would like to go on a quick tangent, has anyone recently felt sick?” Law quickly moved on. 

“That’s a little too general.” Sanji pointed out, “What kind of sickness? Homesick? Actual sick?” 

“Vomiting sick.” Law clarified. 

No one had an answer, just looked around in silence if anyone was going to speak up. 

“Well that seems to confirm it,” Law sighed, “This wasn’t a murder, but a suicide.” 

Even if it seemed obvious to Law, most in the room still had shocked expressions. Others such as Ms. Nico and Chopper seemed to be more in agreement than anything.

“You can’t just claim that with such little evidence!” Hancock said, with complete conviction. 

“We’ve already gone over how everyone was accounted for and no one could have been in the area around the time of death which is given to us.” Law informed, “And thanks to Chopper’s organization of the medical supplies, we know someone did take a bottle of antidepressants earlier today.” 

Chopper nodded, “Ace came in today earlier. Before that I had confirmed that nothing had been taken from the cabinet, but afterwards, Law told me how something was missing.” 

“Wait but that doesn’t tell us who took it.” Carrot said, looking like she was thinking hard. 

“Are you serious-?” Bonney started. 

“Does he have to spell it out for you?” Kid asked, completely dumbfounded, “Ace stole the pills, went back to his room, and overdosed. It’s that simple.” 

“You act like you knew that the entire time.” Zoro commented, looking to the side. 

Killer quickly interjected, more than likely sensing an argument coming, “You mentioned a symptom of vomiting? Did Ace throw up when you were around?” 

“There was vomit at the restrooms near the exploration center.” Zoro said, “We found it while investigating.” 

“Did no one else notice the trail?” Law asked. 

No one answered. 

“In any case,” Law said in a very tired tone. He turned to Chopper, “Tony-ya what do you think of these symptoms?”

“Yes, these would line up with an overdose. Especially with the antidepressants.” Chopper nodded. 

“Okay but how do you know someone didn't purposely make him take the pills?” Kid questioned, then looking accusingly at Chopper, “You don’t even know where the pill bottle is or if he even took it!” 

“It’s highly likely that he still had the bottle on him during the explosion,” Mrs. Nico added, “Nothing was found in his room correct?”

“No, nothing really was found there,” Usopp said. 

“There was that notebook.” Sanji said, looking over to Zoro and Law. 

“What notebook?” Hancock asked. 

“You know the notebooks that come with everyone’s room?” Zoro asked, “The one that was in Ace’s room had three pages ripped out, but we couldn’t even find a crumbled one anywhere in there.” 

“That could have been almost a possible sucide note that the mastermind took.” Nami said, “But we can’t really know for sure.” 

“Okay but,” Kid started, “that theory would mean that the mastermind came into the exploration center, was able to take the sucide note, set the explosion, and make sure no one noticed them being gone long enough for suspicion?” 

“Yeah, it really does feel like we’re missing huge pieces of information.” Vivi said, “Whoever this mastermind 

“There would be a reasonable motivation for a sucide.” Law stated, “Thanks to the implemented time limit from Caesar,”

That statement resulted in many glares thrown at the scientist who was lazily watching still. 

“The motive was that everyone would die if no one was dead within the two day time period,” Law said, “Any family member in this position would reasonably do what they could to protect their family.” 

“You’re saying that Ace died to save Luffy?” Hancock asked, looking absolutely mortified. 

“That would be the only logical explanation,” Law said. 

He didn’t exactly want to mention the last conversation he had between him and Ace, that felt like a rather private event. Law still thought about sharing it, just to drive home the theory of Ace sacrificing himself. 

“Are we absolutely sure that Law saw Ace only after he died?” Kid asked after a bit of silence. 

“Are you serious?” Law asked rather annoyedly, holding his head thanks to his growing headache. 

Bonney was also fed up with this questioning as she said, “I swear you’re just dragging this conversation by this point! We’ve been over it like ten times!” 

“Of course I’m skeptical! This is all of our lives on the line for this one vote. No second chance and it’s not like there’s a way off this god forsaken island/resort thing,” Kid grumbled. 

Law had to grip his stand a bit, feeling his headache worsen a bit. Luckily Nami went on to say exactly what Law was thinking. 

“This isn’t an island.” Nami said, “It’s some sort of bio dome. Artificial everything, so we’re most likely not on an island.” 

“Wait what?” Usopp asked while most of everyone else looked on with confused faces. 

Law wondered how out of all the people in their group, Luffy was one of the only ones in the group to also pick up on this fact. He expected Nami and Ms. Nico for sure but not Luffy. 

“The sky is artificial, the forest around the resort doesn’t go as far as we think it does, and if you went to the rooftop, you could see the end part.” Nami explained, “Did anyone take notice of the fact that there are no bugs even though we’re right next to a forest?” 

“Luffy and Ace told us about that, I think on the first day we were here.” Chopper said. “Well there are dead ones at the animal center from what I could find, but no live ones like you said.” Carrot added. 

“Well that seems rather excessive,” Zoro said, “Why put us in such an elaborate place only to have all try to kill one another?” 

Everyone once again looked to Caesar for answers to this question, who seemed even more disinterested. 

“Why do you kids think that’s any of your business?” Caesar asked. 

“Because we’re the ones trapped in here.” Law muttered. 

“And you seem completely unconcerned that none of our families will come looking for us!” Vivi said, “Someone’s bound to notice we’re gone at some point, especially the academy.” 

“Who even has the ability to take a whole class of students away from a well known academy?” Killer asked. 

“Yes, we demand answers!” Hancock ordered while Law looked on, slightly impressed by her use of ‘we’.

“Ugh, this whole trial is just getting off topic now.” Caesar groaned, “The voting will begin in two minutes so you better decide on who to vote now.” 

With that statement, most of everyone began to panic slightly. Law couldn’t blame them, he too was rethinking all the evidence they had to make sure their decision was the correct one. 

“We should go over a quick summary of the crime.” Mrs. Nico said, bringing everyone together once again. 

“Right,” Vivi said, “It first started off with the motive given by Caesar with the time limit of two day before everyone would die if no murder occurred. Ace must have decided at that point he had to save his brother and went to go steal some pills from the hospital center in the morning. He then went back to his room to take the pills, waited probably a good amount of time in the room writing a note before leaving. He then went to meet Law for a quick amount of time before leaving and going towards the exploration center while everyone else was away from the area. The mastermind, interfering with the game to make it more difficult on us, went and stole the note from his room and either set the bomb before or after Ace had arrived at the exploration center. Ace threw up in the bathrooms nearby before finally arriving at the exploration center himself and succumbing to the pills. That’s when Luffy and Law showed up right as the bomb went off.” 

“This is really the only real explanation for this.” Nami said, almost to herself. 

The tension was thick with worry. As Kid had said, they really did have only this one chance to solve the mystery. It was doubtful Caesar would just let them slide if they voted wrong here. 

“Well, since that concludes things,” Caesar said with a cheerful tone, “You can take out your handbooks to vote on who the killer is. And remember, choosing to not vote will end in a punishment.” 

Everyone begrudgingly took their vote, having the screen for voting pop up automatically. Law’s was noticeably still cracked but usable, but that didn’t seem to do it for Caesar. 

“You freaking teenagers, breaking everything all the time. Here,” Caesar said, tossing a new handbook to Law. 

Law wanted to point out that it technically was the mastermind’s fault more than anything but continued. All the photos of each classmate was on display, but Law quickly selected Ace to get the decision over with. 

He knew dwelling on the decision would only lead to him questioning himself and the evidence even further. 

They’ve made their decision, now they have to stick with it. 

“The voting is now closed! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you all make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one?” Caesar cackled, “Only-”

“Hurry up!” Hancock yelled while everyone else nodded in agreement, also not being able to handle the dragged on suspense. 

“Whatever, here’s the results,” Caesar grumbled as a huge screen in front of them showed the votes, all of which was for Ace. 

“And now for the final verdict,” Caesar said as a wheel appeared on screen, spinning the arrow towards pictures of all of them. The arrow eventually slowed, landing in a painstakingly amount of time, on Ace’s picture. Finally everyone was able to breathe a bit more easily after that. 

“Goes without saying at this point that you all were correct! It was indeed a sucide, which honestly a bit boring than what I was expecting.” Caesar said with a shrug. 

Law could partially see some of the others blood begin to boil over at that statement. 

“This isn’t some fucking reality tv show!” Bonney yelled while others began to yell at him as well. 

“How can we even keep going like this?” Shirahoshi asked, hugging herself. 

“That’s not my problem whatever happens to you guys. There’s only two ways this game ends,” Caesar said, “Either one can get get away with murder while the rest die, or you all keep getting it right until there’s only two left.” 

Law had to be honest, he wasn’t too optimistic about either option. There was no way he could see himself motivated enough to kill another to get out of this prison, but he doubted he would be able to leave until the end. 

“This is even more boring that there’s no execution this time around.” Caesar sighed, completely ignoring the rest’s angry statements. 

Everyone’s voice slightly died down at the mention of that. 

“So for the next trial there will more than likely be some kind of execution.” Caesar said with a wide grin, “It would have racked you all with much more despair, but now I guess it can just settle on all of you how Ace just saved, not just the straw hat kid’s, but all of your lives for just a bit longer.” 

Law felt his body go slightly ridged at that statement. He wanted to say something but just didn’t have the energy to do so. Not to mention he feared saying something at a time like this would just give Caesar more of an incentive to give out another motivation, leading to other death among them. 

“What do you even get out of something like this?” Vivi asked with steel eyes, attempting to stare down Caesar. 

“Eh, that’s your job to figure out.” Caesar shrugged, “You can’t possibly expect me to give out all the answers. You’ve only figured out only a small percentage of this big picture ya know. Could have ended badly by voting the wrong person,” 

“God this whole thing’s so annoying,” Apoo muttered. 

“Although if he does wake up, maybe Strawhat may have a couple answers, who knows?” Caesar said in a teasing like manner. 

This peaked everyone’s interest almost instantly. 

“Wait, Luffy was the first one at the exploration center. It could be possible that he saw something Law couldn’t have.” Nami said, taking the words right of Law’s mouth. 

“Just tell us already you clown!” Hancock ordered. 

“Clown is only my last name!” Caesar yelled back before saying, “You’re all just gonna have to wait and see if the kid even wakes up. After all, your two doctors can only guess when or if that will happen.” 

Chopper and Law both gave a glare to him at that, not appreciating his taunting manner. 

“No matter, you all can go back to the elevator or whatever.” Caesar said, “I’m done with you all trying to get information out of me. Go figure that stuff out yourself!” 

“You’re the one that won’t shut up.” Zoro said bluntly. 

“Oh how you watch your back instead of all this talk!” Caesar snapped, “After all, this trial itself may be driving the next killer to want to escape from here even more. You never know who the next one may be~” 

“You’re getting rather repetitive now aren’t you?” Ms. Nico added, “Ran out of scare tactics to make use of?” 

Caesar could only scoff, “It’s only encouragement. I’ll be going on my break, you all better make the next one more interesting.” 

With a puff of Caesar’s signature purple smoke, he disappeared from his chair, leaving the rest of the students in silence. 

“There’s no doubt as you can all see,” Ms. Nico stated, “We must work together.” 

Nami nodded, “If just maybe we can find more information, we could find a way of escape. But for now, this ugly monster will keep throwing ways to get us to break.”

“All we can do is explore until we find something, better than all of us getting executed.” Zoro said, rubbing his neck. 

“I think we all need some rest, today was stressful on all of us.” Vivi said. 

Everyone was feeling the mental exhaustion that came with the trial. Such a high stress situation where they didn’t even know if they were going to be able to walk out of that room alive was bound to tire them. 

Law just continued to feel the sharp pains in his head and partly his leg, feeling grateful to get some rest. 

“Are you just forgetting about the damn mastermind?” Kid asked even as every had already walked a good distance from their stands, “Someone that’s hear literally to fuck with all of us?” 

“Given how you were acting in the trial, you could say it was you attempting to trip us up.” Law shot back. 

“I told you, that’s all our damn lives on the line and just one bit of misinformation could screw the entire thing.” Kid glared standing right in front of Law. 

Sure Kid was slightly taller than Law, but that didn’t mean he was going to let himself be immediate by the huge moron. 

“Throwing around questions on stuff that has already been proven isn’t exactly helpful,” Law said while side eyeing him. 

“Hey, we shouldn’t be arguing right now.” Sanji interjected, getting closer to the two. 

Law opened his mouth to retort before he began to feel slightly dizzy. This headache was so bad he held forehead in a futile attempt to sooth it away. He really needed that nap or a good sleep before he even did anything else. Maybe he should just check up Luffy’s condition right before that, he couldn’t really tell what he wanted to do. 

He knew what he really wanted was to see his adoptive father, Cora-san, again. He pictured him now, waiting back at their small little home, wanting to ask about how his day went with a big smile on his face that would make Law smile back. He could practically hear him calling his name. Law’s few friends back home always did say that he smiled more around his father and not much anywhere else. 

Law knew perfectly why this was and couldn’t stop the flow of memories of before. Before he had known his adoptive father truly. He could see the towering figure of his worst enemy over him, with those strange sunglasses and comically large boa. 

Why could Law feel the pressure on his chest? Why could he hear the sickening laughter of that man? 

Law couldn’t breath, seeing the figure with his own eyes trying to crush his chest inwards. Law gasped, trying to get words desperately out of his mouth. He felt his chest grow heavy and burned with each crushing movement. 

Finally Law felt as though he could really open his eyes. The man with sunglasses and the boa now gone, replaced with the faces of Kid, Zoro, and Chopper looking down at him. 

Wait, looking down at him? Why was Law staring up at the ceiling? Why did the three faces have wide eyed expressions? Why the hell was Kid’s hands on his chest? 

“What the fuc-” 

“Oh thank god.” Zoro said, looking away in relief. 

“Law, how is your head?” Chopper asked, “Do you feel any sense of nausea? Any pain anywhere at all?” 

“I … why…” Law’s brain was still trying to catch up with what was happening. 

Wasn’t Cora-san just in front of him? Wasn’t that stupid bird man the one crushing his chest in? 

“You literally passed out, right in front of me.” Kid said, still sort of wide eyed from what happened. 

Law slowly got up but thanks to Chopper’s protests, they forcibly put him back down on his back. 

Law caught a glimpse at some of the others standing farther away, more than likely as to not crowd the area too much. He caught a glance at Shirahoshi crying but also Bonney wiping tears as well. 

“I should be okay to walk in a bit Chopper this is-”

“Law, Kid said that you didn’t look like you were breathing.” Chopper stated in a grave tone. 

Oh … fuck. 

Law knew he had completely misjudged just how long he could go without resting from his injuries, but he had no idea it would have been that bad. 

“That’s why Kid was performing chest compressions on you. I wasn’t close enough to you, but your skin was pale Law.” Chopper said, “You need to rest now.” 

Law almost felt completely ashamed by this. Sure it was stupid, he had been stupid to overestimate how long to stay away from resting. Law couldn’t deny that he wouldn’t have made a different decision if he was given the chance though, as crazy as that sounded. 

He wouldn’t have been able to handle the anxiety of staying away from the trial without being able to give some sort of input in the situation. 

Law still had to justify it even if he knew causing this scare to the rest of his classmates, more than likely wasn’t ideal. 

“Are you sure you're a doctor, because you're in the worst shape out of all of us.” Zoro commented. 

“Stupid, he did get blown backwards by a damn explosion.” Sanji said, “Of course he’s in the worst shape.” 

Zoro and Sanji continued their arguing while Chopper continued to check Law’s breathing and his heart. He didn’t have any equipment on him, but he still had to do his best. 

“I don’t think you should even be walking on that leg right now.” Chopper said. 

Law only sighed in exasperation at this. 

He didn’t exactly regret being at the exploration center where the explosion happened. After all, Luffy wouldn’t have been rushed nearly as fast to the hospital hadn’t he been there, but he had just been a bit farther behind it, he could have avoided this whole dilema. 

“Kid, can you carry Law to the hospital center?” Chopper asked after finishing his quick evaluation. 

“WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was excited to post this one, also if the whole passing out thing confused you, I meant for that to happen :D
> 
> I drew that scene from my own experience with passing out, where I just randomly remembered things during that time and woke up super confused. Only with my passing out experience, someone was performing the heimlich maneuver on me because they thought I was choking, not chest compressions.
> 
> For some reason my brain took what was happening from the outside and matched them with the memories and they intertwined, so Law practically getting choked by Doflamingo only happened because of Kid's actions. 
> 
> Idk if that made sense, but hope yall enjoyed it anyways. I hope to make the next trails much more interesting.


	6. Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caesar makes his most devastating move by far.

Law laid on the bed of the hospital center. 

He could hear the beeping noise coming from the machines that still kept Luffy breathing, who laid just on the bed next to him. The only thing that separated the two was the curtain that hung between the two.

The only other two in the hospital center were Zoro and Chopper. Everyone else had decided to go to their own rooms back at the hotel. Chopper stayed to watch over Luffy and Law’s conditions (more than likely not trusting Law’s assessments nearly as much) while Zoro just wanted to make sure the three would be alright here, given the hospital didn’t have an automatic lock in place.

Hancock had also been ready to stay with them only for Ms. Nico to claim otherwise, saying that four was enough.

Law had been more than ready to go back to sleep while at the courtroom but now that he was laying next to Luffy, he couldn't bring himself to. 

Just the whole ordeal with Kid had been enough to wake him up a bit of course. Law still remembered the argument. 

“He is not carrying me.” Law snapped. 

“Goodluck fainting into my arms again.” Kid scoffed. 

“I did not … wait … did I actually-?” 

“Law someone has to carry you because you’re just gonna one, risk passing out again or two worsen your legs condition even further.” Chopper said, “And I said Kid because he’s the only one taller than you are.” 

Law gave a quick glance to Zoro, which was not missed by Chopper. 

“I mean I can probably do it.” Zoro said, clearly getting the signal. 

Nonetheless it was still embarrassing for Law. The second time he had been carried here since getting stuck in this death game. 

Law smothered his face with the pillow at the memory, groaning while trying to will the thought away. He could help but now wonder if they really were going to have to fight to the literal death to escape from this place. 

Hadn’t one person’s death been enough?

He did think that it should have been called off a long time if it was just some fucked social experiment, but they were really going all the way with this. Caesar can’t be the only one keeping them here, and not to mention that damn mastermind. 

Law didn’t have any evidence for who that could be and it was getting to him. It didn’t make sense if everyone’s alibis lined up, how could someone set that bomb?

Not to mention Luffy had wanted to show him something before, something in the exploriation room. 

The realization hit Law like a ton of bricks. 

Instead of just making the game more interesting, was the mastermind trying to hide something? Something that Luffy had found? But how would they know? How would they have known the near exact time they would have met or that Luffy even found something? That’s even if that thing is actually at the exploration center, Luffy could have been trying to give a piece of information but was never able too. 

Law observed the curtain to his left. 

He shook his head before trying to shut his eyes and go to sleep again. All these thoughts wouldn’t help him if he can’t take care of his own health. 

Muffled voices intruded on Law's sleep. 

“Do you … alright?” 

“Trying to … tomorrow.” 

“You’re not whispering low enough.” Law said with a dry throat. 

“Oh, sorry Law.” Chopper said before walking towards him. 

Luffy was the farthest from the door where Chopper, Zoro, and Ms. Nico were standing. Law sort of did want to go back to sleep instead of going through another evaluation. 

“What time is it even?” Law asked, lifting himself up only to sit. 

“Around 2 in the afternoon. You should be fine in a day or two.” Chopper said coming over to his side to change his bandages. 

Law caught Zoro briefly giving Ms. Nico a side eye but she didn’t seem to notice. 

“Luffy however…” 

“Still uncertain?” Law asked as he shifted to allow Chopper to remove the bandages on his arm.

“Yes, Ms. Nico and I are going to get some food from Sanji for you. Zoro will stay behind. Is that fine?” Chopper asked. 

Law only nodded and let Chopper continue to wrap over the burns on his arms before going to his leg which felt much better than yesterday. Once he was done, Chopper and Ms. Nico left Zoro to stay with Law and Luffy. 

“Caesar opened part of the forest up.” Zoro said, after Chopper left the room.

“It’s only the left side apparently, not the right.” Zoro said. “You’re not going to go explore it?” Law asked. 

“I’ll do it later, everyone else went out to explore it though.” Zoro said, “Besides, you can just check the handbook for information on it if you really wanted.” 

It seemed Zoro didn’t really have much else to say after that. Law sat on the bed while Zoro stood at the door in silence. 

Taking a glimpse at Zoro, Law could see he did have something he wanted to ask. 

“Whatever you’re going to ask, I’d say do it now before they come back.” Law said with a sigh, now not feeling like going to bed. 

“The conversation with Ace, the one before the explosion.” Zoro started, “In the trial you never brought that up.” 

“Didn’t see how that would be helpful in that situation.” 

“I beg to differ, if anything it would have made it seem even more like Ace was trying to commit sucide.” Zoro said, arms crossed, “To help Luffy and the others of course.” 

“In one perspective it may seem that way. But to others it could have seemed like a potential lie, to sway the story in one direction.” Law explained, “With this being everyone’s life on the line, I rather not risk it with some unnecessary information.” 

Zoro only stared at him at this, making Law feel the slightest bit of uncomfortableness. 

“I’m going to be honest,” Zoro said eyeing the door next him, as if checking it was still closed, “I don’t think you’re the mastermind or traitor whatever.” 

“That’s a rather quick assessment, don’t you think?” Law asked. 

“It’s more of a gut thing,” Zoro shrugged. 

“Got any gut feeling for who it could be then?” 

Zoro stopped to think, “No.” 

“Well-”

A loud doorbell rang through the hospital, the same one from the morning announcements. 

“Good morning students! Hope you all had a tremendously relaxing morning and night!” Caesar laughed through the intercoms. 

“It’s too early for this.” Zoro grumbled. 

“Please meet in the front of the hotel for a very special gift I have prepared. It’s sure to give you all some great encouragement!” 

Law’s eyes widened at that. 

“A motive?” Zoro asked, “But it’d be too soon for something like that.” 

“Probably doesn’t want what happened last time to happen again,” Law said, “It took too long for him the first time. So for the second time, right out the gate, he would try to get us to move faster with an immediate motive.” 

Zoro made a noise of agreement. 

Neither moved or spoke for a bit. 

“Need to be carried again?” 

“No.” Law said immediately standing up, “I just don’t wanna see that clown’s face again. Only way I’d be happy to see it is if it got punched in the face.” 

Zoro laughed as the two walked out. 

The two seemed to be too behind everyone else because only half were there at the front. 

“Everyone else is probably still farther away because they were exploring.” Zoro muttered.

“These motives must have been planned in advance. Maybe there’s a certain time limit that whoever put us here expected the game to end by.” Law said.

“Why would our deaths warrant a time limit?” Zoro asked.

“Well from what we know, Caesar is a scientist, this could be some sort of huge experiment.” Law said, “My only qualms are, what is the experiment testing for and depending on that answer, the structure of this game may not make any sense.”

“Structure?” Zoro asked, “I didn’t even consider that but to be honest, I don’t understand what you mean either.”

“You know the regular set up of the scientific method learned in school right?” Law asked, hopeful that could ring a bell. 

“No,” Zoro said, looking even more confused. 

“I-”

Law didn’t even get to finish before Sanji, Killer, and Kid came in from the dining room, complaining loudly, “Come on Sanji, you can spare just a little more food!” 

Killer, despite the mask, looked rather tired already from the conversation, just as much as Sanji.

“If I didn’t stop you, the stock would be entirely gone by now!” Sanji said, “We don’t even know if the food supply is limited or not.” 

“What about Bonney then?” Kid retorted, “You let her eat all that she wants.” 

“Unlike you, she actually is considerate of other people and does limit herself.” Sanji said, annoyedly before turning to Law and Zoro, “You two’s food is inside, but I guess that’s gonna have to wait for whatever announcement this is.” 

“It’s more than likely another motive.” Law remarked. 

Sanji seemed surprised as he asked, “Another one? The first one was bad enough, you’d figure Caesar would give it a bit more time.” 

“Do all you students take your sweet time getting around the place?” Caesar whined, sitting on the hotel front desk, “Do I need to get the slime again?” 

Law remembered the weird purple substance that had almost hit him and Luffy just for being late. 

“Well, the area is bigger so some people are going to take a bit longer to get here.” Sanji said, in an attempt to stall him. 

Only Law, Zoro, Sanji, Kid, and Killer were there with no one else in sight. 

“Cook, didn’t Chopper and Ms. Nico come here?” Zoro asked. 

“They went up to Ms. Nico’s room to get something. Oh yeah, the staircase is finally able to be used.” Sanji said, pointing to the door that no longer had a warning sign over it. 

“Why do you use those slime things if they’re just gonna close off an area of the resort for so damn long?” Kid asked, glancing over at Caesar. 

“I can do whatever I want, that’s why.” Caesar said, “If I want you to get punished by poison then so be it! … Also I may have over mass produced them by accident.” 

“What happened to them being popular on the black market?” Law asked, with an eyebrow raised. 

“Business has been a bit slow.” Caesar pouted slightly, “You’d figure everyone would want to buy more now!” 

Law wondered if he could try to coerce some more information out of Caesar and what to ask next as to not make it obvious. Before he could do that Nami and the others came running inside the hotel.

“Sorry! We’re here!” Nami said, slightly out of breath. Law noticed how almost everyone’s hair and clothes even were somewhat wet. 

“Yeah, we were looking at the sauna and then-” Vivi said while drying out her hair a bit more with her towel. 

“There’s a sauna?” Zoro asked. 

“Dude, that thing felt so-” 

Caesar let out a loud cough getting everyone’s attention and cutting off Bonney. He crossed his arms in annoyance before going on to say, “Not everyone is here and at this rate those stairs are going to be closed off again.” 

“Wait, where’s Chopper and Ms. Nico?” Shirahoshi asked. 

“They shouldn’t be taking that long.” Sanji muttered. 

Just as Sanji finished his sentence the elevator door opened for Chopper and Ms. Nico. 

“Do I really need to start putting a time limit over how long it should take for you to get here?” Caesar grumbled, “You’d figure after the last demonstration you all would be more quick to move. And … don’t go bringing in dirt here!” 

The group didn’t look impressed by his words. Law could see most of the girls we’re still drying off while the rest of the guys were completely dry. But most did have their shoes covered in mud from the forest area. 

Caesar sighed before continuing, “Like Law and Nami said earlier, this meeting has been called for your newest motive!” 

Nami took a step back with wide eyes, “How did you-?” 

“The security cameras aren’t for show darling,” Caesar said in a mocking tone, “There’s also audio capturing devices hidden around so good luck with that.”

Everyone visibly tensed and looked around at their surroundings for any sign of them. Just being watched was creepy enough.

“Don’t cha have anything better to do than watch teenagers all day?” Bonney asked, looking grossed out. 

“Don’t go distracting me,” Caesar said before taping a box next to him, “For this next motive, you’ll need these earbuds to listen to the video that will play on your handbooks.” 

The box was passed around and once it got to Law, he saw just how cheap and breakable it was up close. Law could have bought some better quality ones at the drugstore back near his home.

Everyone else seemed to also take issue with them but proceeded to plug them in anyways to the device. Law at first questioned how a video would even play on the device before it popped on his screen automatically. 

Law nearly dropped the tablet in surprise at the video. 

Right there, dead center on the couch of his home, was Cora-san. Law felt just an instant wave of relief of being able to see his adoptive father, even just through video, again. He still had that goofy smile that made Law give a small smile back to. 

“Law, happy to see me again? I can already say that you’ve been gone for only a short time but I already miss you so much. Makes me sort of regret making you study so far away,” Cora-san chuckled, 

Law found himself almost chuckling at that too. Cora-san had been so conflicted towards the days leading up to Law leaving on the plane. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I’m glad you have this opportunity, Law. I’ll see you for sure when breaks come along.” 

Law had been so lost in the sight of Cora-san, it jarred him when the screen suddenly cut out into static. It was what was shown next that brought Law back to the reality of his situation and why he was here. 

He saw the once cleaned up living room, now ripped to pieces. The couch that Law remembered lazily sleeping on when he was too lazy to get to his own bed, was torn apart. And Cora-san was nowhere in sight. 

Law’s mouth went dry as he heard Caesar’s voice say, “But the only known family of Trafalgar Law would mysteriously go missing right after this was taken. Never being able to reach each other. What happened to Corazon? Manage to win this killing game to find out more information and maybe even save them!” 

Law heard yelling in the background. He ripped off the cheap earphones but still couldn’t hear much of what anyone was saying. He knew Kid, Nami, and Hancock were yelling at Caesar. He could hear most breaking down into tears. 

Law had felt his own mind just go blank. Unable to get a complete thought out before the next question came to mind. 

What had happened to Cora-san? Was he actually hurt or is this some sort of trap? How would they even be able to get a hold of him without raising suspicion? Everyone else seems to be affected by this too, so they must be seeing similar videos. 

Law felt his sense of reason was starting to slip from all this confusion. 

No, Law thought, you can’t afford to lose control over your own actions. Law willed himself to breathe a bit more steadier. He hadn’t noticed himself holding his breath during that time. 

Law thought about what he needed to do right now, anything but focusing on this in front of everyone. Law remembered almost immediately and proceeded to slip his handbook away in his pocket and turned to leave the hotel. He couldn’t stay here another second longer, hearing everyone’s cries and seeing their devastated expressions. 

“Oi, where are you going?” Apoo asked, pointing him out to everyone. 

“It’s not worth my time to give this bastard a show. I’m going to check on Mugiwara-ya, no one’s currently watching over his condition that I trust.” Law said, snapping that last part towards Caesar. 

Law walked out the building, noticing the presence of another following him. Eventually they began to walk besides Law, for him to see it was Zoro who had an expression of stone. Thankfully he didn’t make any comments the whole way to the hospital center. 

As soon as they arrived, Law knew he couldn’t keep his emotions together for much longer. He quickly excused himself to the bathroom on the side without waiting for an answer from Zoro. 

The bathroom had multiple stalls so he just hoped Zoro would get the hint and wouldn’t come in as well. 

Law took off his hat and gripped his hair from either side. 

All that shit about Caesar saying no one was coming for the students seemed to be true after all. One couldn’t blame them for having hope that this was false, but being able to just get these videos and then film again from the inside that was now destroyed would be a lot of effort to fake. 

To be fair this entire game seemed like way too much effort in the first place. 

Law could feel his heart squeeze at the thought of something happening to Cora-san. But was it enough for him to plan a murder? Law didn’t know how to feel about that one. In his honest opinion, either which way you wanted to play this game, you would be set up for failure. 

But now someone else in the group would be thinking up a way to get out of here. 

Law wanted to be optimistic that there could be some sort of exit they haven’t seen or missed even. After all they had to get inside from somewhere to get stuck inside. 

Law gripped the sinks side as he began to list out all the information he had. 

Caesar is involved with some sketchy stuff that includes blackmarket materials and poisons. He is a scientist and is being forced to watch over them? That part is a bit unclear. No one is looking for them, or at least no one close to them is looking for them. 

This means whoever has them here has a lot of money and resources which doesn’t exactly narrow it down. 

Law gritted his teeth trying to come up with anything, anything else that could have given him a clue. 

The entire academy itself didn’t have too much history to it. The entire academy itself didn’t have too much history to it. It was a private school funded by the government. 

“Damn it.” Law muttered, feeling more frustrated than ever. 

None of this information could help in an escape. The most he could do was try to look around their area to find more clues but even that wouldn’t-

“You sure think a lot.”

Law stopped at the sudden memory. 

Law put his hands to his face and rubbed his forehead as he sighed. 

He hated to admit it, but Luffy was right on this one. The more Law thinks about this, the more he’s falling for Caesar’s ploy. It was so hard to turn it off but just for now Law has to focus on something else before he destroys himself. 

Law opened the door to leave right when he saw Zoro reaching over to the knob to also enter. 

“I was just … gonna check on ya.” Zoro said, backing away. 

Law made a small mm in acknowledgement before walking back to the room with Luffy. 

“That video … what did you see?” Zoro asked, arms crossed. 

“Family, I assume it’s the same with everyone else.” Law said, “Although it’d be smart to not speak on it. After all, the more it’s brought up, the more we’ll be playing right into Caesar’s hands.” 

“Right, he wants us to freak out.” Zoro muttered. 

“He wants us to kill each other.” Law said, “What’s strange is that if that was the entire goal then isn’t there more efficient ways of doing that?” 

Zoro’s eyebrows furrowed, looked up as though thinking and said, “Okay I honestly don’t know. I don’t understand what you’re going on about half the time.” 

Law shot him a look while he thought about how Zoro, unlike Luffy, is just better at hiding the fact that he doesn’t understand most of what he is saying. 

“Well it seems you pay enough attention.” Law muttered, turning away, “You already have your suspicions don’t you?”

Law could feel the air around him become tight. He certainly expected a reaction, but he wasn’t sure it would have been this big of one. He turned back to see Zoro, now in possibly the most serious he’s seen him by far. 

“Suspicions for what exactly?”

Law didn’t think it would have been possible for his voice to sound any deeper. He made sure to choose the next words wisely while maintaining eye contact.

“Suspicions on Ms. Nico.” Law answered. 

That seemed to catch him a bit off guard before he responded, “Well, I didn’t exactly hide it.”

“That doesn’t really matter,” Law said, sitting down at the desk nearby Luffy’s bed. 

It was in the corner of the large room with many books stacked on it to be read. Law was certain Chopper had been using it beforehand and decided to use this as a place to stay to watch over Luffy’s condition. 

“You still have something to be concerned about, no?” Law asked. 

Zoro looked off to the side, “Ms. Nico doesn’t … seem right. She knows something or is hiding something.” 

“Do you have anything supporting that?” 

“No.” 

“So this is just based on pure instinct?” 

“Yes.” 

Law gave it some thought. Zoro did have a point in that it seemed like Ms. Nico was hiding something. In general, she seemed like a rather secretive person. 

“Even if she has something to hide, it may not even pertain to our situation.” Law said, opening one of the medical books. 

Zoro shrugged, “She’s the only adult here out of any of us. You’d figure she’d take more charge of all of us.” 

“I believe she recognizes the fact that here, in this situation, attempting to regain control will only cause Caesar to bring more incentives.” 

“Okay but before that? The days before Caesar brought that motive?” Zoro asked. 

“That I’m not sure of, taking authority of a group of teenagers is hard to begin with.” Law said. 

“She’s the ultimate teacher though.” Zoro said leaning on the wall next to him. 

“Maybe for fifth graders.” Law commented. 

“Okay that’s just rude.” Zoro said with a grin, showing he didn’t completely disagree. 

“Everyone has their secrets. But we can’t point fingers without evidence.” Law said, “We’ll end up ruining ourselves instead. I’m somewhat surprised this hasn’t turned into a Lord of the Flies situation.” 

Law slightly smiled at his own joke but then saw Zoro just looking confused. 

“Did you not read…” Law sighed, “It’s about a group of boys who land on an island. Lack of civilization splits them apart, one group becomes savages while the other is more peaceful. Then they kill each other.” 

Zoro only looked more confused. 

“Either way, we should work to find some sort of exit tomorrow. There could be something in the area that was opened up.” Law said. 

“Our at least a door of some sorts.” Zoro said. 

“We should be careful. If the mastermind were to find out, it could make Caesar do something even more drastic.” Law said. 

Zoro’s expression hardened at that, “That’s-” 

The doors to the room suddenly opened making Law and Zoro whip their heads towards it. 

They heard a yelp from Usopp and the door slam shut. 

Zoro and Law stared at the door, waiting from Usopp to stop talking to himself. He was loud enough for them to hear his muffled voice despite the two being on the other side of the room. 

“Come in already!” Zoro yelled. 

Law only sighed and went back to flipping through the medical book.

Usopp opened the door slowly and peaked inside before entering, “I came to, uh, check on Luffy and bring your food from Sanji.” 

Law looked at him which caused Usopp to jump back and yell, “Why are you two glaring? I’ll leave if you just ask.” 

“I’m not glaring.” Law and Zoro said. 

“Liars,” Usopp said. 

“How’s everyone else doing?” Zoro asked. 

“Ah, everyone else is … taking a break in their rooms. Most didn’t feel too well after that.” Usopp said, putting the food down next to them. 

“This seems like more than just lunch.” Law said looking at the huge packages. 

“Sanji said something about not being able to trust you two to get food on your own.” Usopp said. 

“Hey, that’s true only for him.” Zoro said, pointing at Law, “I came to make sure he didn’t pass out again.” 

No one will ever let me live that one down, Law thought bitterly. 

The three ate while Usopp went on to tell some ridiculous story that included many of the different places he’s been to. It took one sentence for Law to see he was lying but the more he listened the more it became apparent why he had that talent of Ultimate Storyteller. 

“I hadn’t been expecting to see the great Dory in front of me when I had attacked. He mistook me and attacked me with his sword-!”

“You do sword fighting Usopp?” Zoro said with a grin. 

Law could see Usopp’s somewhat panicked expression while Zoro seemed ready to mess with him further. 

“Well I, uh,” Usopp said, “I don’t personally know how.” 

Law watched on as Usopp attempted to avoid locking himself into a sword fight with Zoro, while Zoro had a blast in making Usopp try to dodge it. 

Law took a look over at Luffy laying on the bed just a bit away from them. The straw hat rested on the small table next to it. Law hoped that he would wake up but at the same time worried about it. 

Luffy had clearly seen Ace before Law had even gotten the chance. Luffy more than likely understood what was happening. But there was the possibility of him not remembering. Either way, Law didn’t know how to even tell him of the actual killer. 

Law caught a glance at the food that was still put away and cringed. 

“That's our dinner, isn't it?” 

“Hmm? Oh yeah, Sanji packed that.” Usopp said. 

“Roronoa-ya, you want my share?” Law asked almost immediately. 

“At least wait and see if you're hungry later on.” Zoro chidded taking a look at the sandwiches. 

“No, I’m not eating that.” Law said, “I don’t eat bread.” 

“Now I know what to tell Sanji when I get back.” Usopp sighed. 

The three spent most of the day talking while Law added in occasionally while reading. Law had also gone in to make sure the lock on the medicine room worked. It was too close and accessible to the entrance for him to trust. 

When it neared 10pm, Usopp took his leave to sleep in his own room after eating dinner. Law had again refused to eat the sandwich but didn’t allow Usopp to go all the way back to get some other food for him. After Usopp left, they began to settle in. 

“You can use the bed.” Law said nodding over to the bed he used the night before when he was recovering, “I’m going to be studying anyways.” 

“Nah, floor’s fine.” Zoro said, sitting right next to the doorway. 

Law would have said something about back issues but he was also the one sitting at a desk with a medical book, reading from only the small light and moonlight coming from the window. Law saw Zoro had already closed his eyes and was surprised by how easily he fell asleep. 

It was smart of him to sleep by the door just in case. It made Law feel a bit better about staying at the hospital center that had no locks on the regular patient rooms. 

Law took occasional glances at Zoro and Luffy, but more often at Luffy. It was better than thinking about Cora-san. 

Law began to drift. 

At what time, he didn’t know. 

He couldn’t be bothered to check. 

Law eventually found himself reading the same sentence over and over again. Law briefly thought of getting up to go to the bed but not having the energy to do so. He began to convince himself of only resting his eyes from short moments. 

Eventually, those short moments stayed and it filled Law’s night with the nightmares of gunshots and fires.

A scream tore Law from his sleep. 

Law’s head shot up immediately, feeling his blood pump loudly and heat his neck. His eyes, despite being somewhat tired, were wide open. 

His brain recognized that this wasn’t a scream from his usual dreams. 

Law only caught a glance at a figure moving something out of the way and running out the door of the room. 

Law looked back at Luffy’s bed to see the covers undone and the wires practically ripped out. Some of which had blood on it.

Law got up from his desk to see in the still somewhat dark room was Zoro groaning against the wall. Law ran past Zoro as he got up and exited the room to catch up with Luffy. He could feel his leg starting to protest against the sudden movements.

Law opened the door to the outside, getting a gush of the cold early morning air blown in his face. He still saw Luffy collapse in on himself on the floor breathing heavily. 

Zoro was right beside Law as Luffy screamed his brother's name. 

Law calmly looked on as Luffy got up and ran directly into the forest yelling his brother’s name over and over again. 

“Shit, stay here. I’ll go get him.” Zoro said before running after him. 

Law watched reservedly, hearing the screams of anguish coming from the forest. He leaned against the outside hospital and sit one the cold ground. 

The dawn was barely breaking at this time. It could have been more than 5am and yet the yelling from both Zoro and Luffy could be heard by only Law. The hotel was too far away for anyone else to be alerted, no matter how loud they yelled. 

Law recognized the scream Luffy was making. He’s heard it too many times not too. 

This was a man who had lost his anchor, his hope, his own brother. Law knew that feeling all too well, the feeling of losing everything. The feeling of losing all that had ever loved you or you’ve loved. The worst feeling in this world is loneliness. 

Law heard the yelling begin to calm. He went back inside to pick up the straw hat and waited patiently for their return. Even as the artificial sun began to slowly rise. Law was sure a good amount of time had passed before he caught a glimpse of the green haired swordsmen and bandage covered Luffy.

Law was surprised to see Luffy’s face light up at the sight of him and give a small grin. 

“Torao!”

Luffy ran towards him but Law wasn’t smiling. He could see the blood that seeped through his bandages on his chest. Law could see Luffy’s smile wasn’t nearly as big as it used to be but it was still better than none. 

“Zoro told me that you… oh …” Luffy said, stopping. Luffy had gotten a good look at the bandages on Law’s arms, “that you saved me.” 

Law stood, saying, “I’m healing fine Mugiwara-ya. I can take off these bandages today. You on the other hand.” 

Luffy ignored this and said while tugging on his arm, “Wait, I need to show you something.” 

“You’re not going anywhere until I treat your wounds.” Law said tugging back, “You’re bleeding through your bandages.” 

“But you have too-”

“Would you want mine and Chopper’s hard work to go to waste?” Law shot back.

That seemed to make Luffy reluctantly agree and pout at this. Law felt himself relax a bit at this and placed the straw hat over Luffy’s head. 

“Let’s go inside, I’ll make it quick.” Law said, opening the doors. 

Law nearly regretted making Luffy wait to show him whatever it was until after he treated his wounds again. The kid would just not stop moving and fidgeting. 

Law saw the small blood stains on Zoro’s white dress shirt behind his black blazer but it was safe to assume that Luffy’s. He had to commend Zoro, he didn’t know what he said to Luffy in the forest but it seemed to have worked almost too well. 

That or Luffy was just that resilient enough to bounce back a bit quicker than others. 

“Is everyone else okay?” Luffy asked. 

“Yes, everyone else is fine.” Law answered, finishing up. 

“Good.” Luffy said with great conviction. 

“You should be more worried about yourself. It’s going to take a full two weeks of rest and-” Law didn’t get to finish before Luffy bounced up and tried to drag Law out the door. 

“You’re not even listening!” Law yelled, finding himself already outside the hospital. He looked back at Zoro for help but he only followed behind the two. 

They eventually made it all the way back to the exploration center. Before they had even got there Law had concluded that whoever the mastermind was, they were trying to hide something after all. The excuse of making the game more interesting was to distract them from something bigger. 

Luffy stopped in front of the brunt, blackened wreckage. 

Law worried that it was far too soon for Luffy to come back to this before Luffy made his way past the caution tape and walked around the damaged building. 

Law and Zoro followed after as Luffy began to dig through parts of the building. Zoro helped him after Law gave Luffy a glare for moving around too much with his injuries. 

After moving a particularly, sizable chunk from the ground, Luffy hesitated slightly. He gripped the floor board.

“This is what I wanted to show you Torao, sorry it took so long.” Luffy said with a small smile on his face. 

Law didn’t get to respond since Luffy managed to remove the final piece away. Law felt the air leave his lungs when he saw it. 

A large metal hatch with a gigantic lock on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out late ... cause I procrastinated college apps :'D
> 
> Anyways hope ya'll enjoyed it


	7. Dead Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy tries to recover mentally and physically while everyone tries to distract themselves from their situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments, I'm glad you guys are interested in the next killers and murders

Law genuinely did not notice the terrible state they were all in when they walked into the hotel dining room.

Anyone could tell they had been walking through the wreckage from the soot on themselves and mud on Luffy and Zoro’s shoes and clothes. Not to mention the general look of Zoro and Law not looking like they had enough sleep.

Sanji caught one glimpse from the back of the kitchen and dropped the pans he was holding. Law could smell the food that was already being cooked and Luffy was obviously already staring at it.

“Luffy!” Sanji yelled while trying to pick up the pans from the floor.

“Yo Sanji,” Luffy said with a laugh.

“Is he … should he be walking around so soon?” Sanji asked, eyeing Law.

“He can, but should be resting,” Law glared at Luffy who only gave a smile in return, “Also because of his recovery, his diet should consist of-”

“Diet?!” Luffy asked, flabbergasted.

“Yes a diet, your internal organs were damaged and you’re nowhere near being fully healed.” Law scolded as they sat down.

“Don’t put me on a diet, I’ll rest for the whole two weeks.” Luffy begged.

“Two weeks is the absolute minimum. It should be more like six weeks.” Law said before giving a smug look, “You haven’t even heard what the diet even is yet.”

Luffy stopped and waited, staring at Law to say the next bit.

Law had to mentally prepare a bit before he said, “Clear liquids only for around-”

“No!” Luffy said, practically grabbing on to Law.

“Sanji-ya, this can include water, broth, plain gelatin, tea- STOP CLIMBING ME!”

Law would have shoved Luffy off had it not been for him still recovering. Luffy held on to his waist tightly with both arms and legs.

“You shouldn’t even be walking around in the first place, much less eating solid food.” Law said.

“Sanjiiii.” Luffy whined, “Don’t let-”

“I’m listening to what the actual closest person to a doctor we have here.” Sanji said almost immediately, “He’s right, your stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Also Sanji-ya,” Law said while Luffy pouted on the table not paying attention anymore, “The dinner you packed for us yesterday-”

“Was something wrong with it?” 

“I just don’t eat bread. Ever.” Law said.

Sanji took one glance and said, “Okay, anything else I should know? Allergies?”

“This is more preference but no umeboshi.” Law said.

“Why?!” Sanji asked, “You do know the health benefits-”

“I’m not eating such a sour thing.” Law said, wondering slightly in the back of his mind why Sanji was arguing against the umeboshi but not the bread.

Luffy laughed in the background, “Torao’s weird! Oh Sanji, I don’t like cherry pie.”

“I don’t like chocolate.” Zoro called out.

“Give me actual food to avoid!” Sanji yelled back before saying, “You guys are down early but I have some food ready, not enough for his black hole.”

Luffy looked proud of that while Sanji placed the plates in front of them. Luffy didn’t appear even the slightest happy with his plain food. Zoro and Law ignored his mumbling as they ate their regular food.

Law was still concerned over how Luffy was mentally. One could pull an act of complete tranquility while hiding the suffering and torment inside. There was no way he had really bounced back _that_ quickly. 

“You three missed this yesterday, but I don’t think anyone is coming down from their rooms for a while.” Sanji said while keeping his eyes on the food, “Everyone’s still not in the best mood. So I offered to bring food to them in the meantime.”

“Everyone?” Law asked, “No one must feel safe at the moment but that probably won’t last either.” 

Sanji nodded, “If everyone stays in their room too long … he might just force us out.” 

Luffy seemed to be eating his food slightly more aggressively at that. 

Sanji walked over and put down some bags in front of Law, “I assume you three will be at the hospital resting.” 

“Do I have too?” Luffy asked. 

“You hurt yourself messing around, I’m not performing surgery on you again.” Law said, taking hold of the bag before Luffy could. 

“I’ll stay with curly brow.” Zoro said, finishing up his food. 

Sanji whipped around in surprise, “Shouldn’t you stay at the hospital center or something?” 

“We’ll be fine over there. Besides, I think you’re going to need at least a bit of help handing out all the food.” Law said. 

Sanji gave it a thought before saying, “Just don’t get lost in the hotel.” 

Zoro turned red at that while Law raised an eyebrow, “How do you get lost in the hotel?” 

Sanji and Luffy began laughing while Zoro yelled at them to shut up. 

“He had gotten lost the first day and walked around the floors when he was trying to go back to his room.” Sanji said through his laughter. 

Law only looked over to him, “This is a joke right?” 

“Nope, we actually got lost in the forest earlier.” Luffy said, “I didn’t know how to get back and _he_ didn’t know how to get back so we wandered around for a bit. We found him on a random floor of the hotel though.” 

Law didn’t know whether to be impressed or disappointed.

“Not my fault the stupid elevator didn’t work.” Zoro mumbled. 

“Sure! Blame it on the elevator!” Sanji laughed. 

Law and Luffy eventually got up to start heading back when Law said, “You shouldn’t be walking right now. I’ll carry you back instead.” 

“A piggy back ride?!” Luffy said with excitement and tried to jump on Law’s back immediately. Law stepped to the side to dodge it, not wanting to be toppled over. 

“No, because we have to carry that bag of food back too.” Law said. 

Sanji and Zoro watched on as they argued about the positioning before they finally settled on Luffy holding the bag while Law carried him with two arms. 

“Can you even carry me?” Luffy said while laughing, trying to make fun of him. 

“I carried you running after being blown back from the explosion. I can manage.” Law grunted as they left, “Now I’m carrying everything though.” 

“What do you mean? I’m carrying the bag!” Luffy said, shoving it in Law’s face much to his annoyance. 

“You’re carrying the bag, and I’m carrying you, so I’m carrying both.” Law explained. 

Luffy looked certain about this and said, “No, I’m holding it. I thought you were smart Torao.” 

“The force of the bag is added on to the force of you which I am carrying. So I’m carrying more than you are!” Law said, trying to explain it again. 

“That’s stupid.” 

“That’s how physics works!” Law yelled while Luffy looked unconvinced, “But we should have taken a damn wheelchair.” 

Luffy didn’t appear very thrilled at that notion until five seconds later when his face lit up, “We should use a wheelchair!” 

“I take that back.” 

“Why?” 

“I can see it now.” Law muttered, “You trying to race down the path only to crash and end up with a broken everything.” 

“It’d be fun though.” 

“Your idea and my idea of fun is very different.” 

“What’s your idea of fun then?” 

Law took a second to think. 

“Probably seeing and hanging out with friends. Being able to sit at home with nothing to worry about.” 

“You sound like an old man.” Luffy snickered. 

“I spend most of my time studying so I didn’t exactly have the energy to do anything that would cause great bodily harm to myself.” Law chided. 

“We should explore the forest though! It’d seem like fun!” Luffy said as they arrived at the hospital. 

“Like I said before, the literal bare minimum is two weeks for you.” Law said, getting them through the door, “You can walk the rest, you’ll be fine.” 

Luffy somewhat waddled back to the room before collapsing on the bed that wasn’t a mess from the morning incident. Law went back to the desk and began to open up the medical books again. 

“Torao?” 

“Yes?” 

“What’s the whole thing with the mastermind?” 

Law paused at this. 

He thought back to Zoro and his first reactions to the hatch that was found.

_“Oh shit, you were right Law.” Zoro said in disbelief._

_Luffy gave a confused look, “I thought this could be an exit?”_

_Law had many questions in his mind but he decided to ask, “Mugiwara-ya, does anyone else know about this? Did you tell anyone else about this?”_

_“No, just you two. You’re the first ones I showed.” Luffy said._

_“This, while promising, isn’t an exit. It could connect to an exit, but it’s almost certain someone used this to get inside the exploration center to set the bomb.” Law explained._

_“That wasn’t set by …” Luffy started._

_So Zoro hadn’t given him the full story, Law thought._

_“There should be another one then. At least somewhere else?” Zoro asked._

_“Wherever or if it does exist … we shouldn’t be here.” Law said, standing up straight on the rubble, “It’s what got this place blown to pieces in the first place. Someone else could get hurt from another one.”_

_“We should try to open it!” Luffy declared._

_“This thing is made out of steel.” Zoro said, tapping on it, “I doubt it’s something that can be moved so easily.”_

_“You tried it already didn’t you?” Law asked, giving Luffy a glance._

_Luffy pursed his lips and looked to the side, giving Law his answer. It wouldn’t open so easily._

_“We can’t tell anyone about this, and hopefully …” Law looked around for any of the cameras, “Caesar hasn’t noticed we have noticed.”_

_“This is the closest thing to an exit though.” Luffy said._

_“Why would an exit be in such a place?” Law asked, “Caesar’s tricks of appearing and disappearing aren’t that hard to see through when we can take into account that hatches like these are probably hidden elsewhere.”_

_Law wanted to have his hopes up too, he really did. However, he couldn’t ignore the other pieces of evidence they had. It would just make this all wishful thinking._

_Luffy’s eyebrows were furrowed, staring at the hatch indecisively._

_Zoro merely nodded in agreement, “It’s not worth the risk, even we can’t even open the damn thing.”_

_“There’s one person who might be able too.” Law said suddenly, “But I’m not sure if they're trustworthy. For now, we’re just going to try and find the actual exit.”_

_Zoro gave a lopsided grin while Luffy had a look of determination._

_Then they heard Luffy’s stomach growl loudly._

“Torao?” Luffy asked, now standing right in front of the desk. 

“Do you want to hear everything?” Law asked cautiously. He wanted to be sure he was actually ready to hear this fully. 

Luffy made a noise of affirmation. 

“At least sit on the bed.” Law said pointing to the one Luffy has previously used. Luffy sat at the very end of the bed, hugging the bed frame. 

Law started from when Zoro and he had gone to the hotel right before the meeting with Ace. He left out some details about the conversation, only mentioning the apology and the mention of him wanting Law to watch over Luffy. Law had felt that was important enough to only tell Luffy and not the rest. The trial, Law tried to go into detail as Luffy watched and listened silently. 

It had almost been unnerving to Law. Luffy would always have something to say, but he couldn’t blame him in this situation. 

Once Law had finished, he let the silence settle. 

Law found Luffy gazing into his eyes, there but not at the same time. Law worried for a second it had been too much. 

“Thank you Torao.” 

That caught Law off guard, taking him a second to find a way to respond, “You asked so-”

“No not the explanation stuff.” Luffy said tilting his head and grinned, “You saved me, like Ace had. I’m glad I’m here to get even stronger.” 

Law couldn’t formulate the words for this. He had a usual procedure with other people, but this felt much more personal. 

Luffy got up before he could give his answer and gave him a smile, “I’ll be right back, I’m going to the restroom. See ya in a bit Torao!” 

Law watched him leave the room from the desk. The door closed softly and Law’s shoulder’s dropped a bit from the tenison he didn’t notice he had. He looked over at the round clock on the wall. He stared back at the medical book in front of him. 

If he’s not back in ten minutes, I’ll go get him, Law thought before taking off his own bandages finally. His wounds were finally healed enough to have them off. 

Law couldn’t see it anywhere on his face, not even in body movement. But he knew, he knew the grief that was held inside was starting to get too much for Luffy.

Law just wished Luffy wouldn’t try to hide it. 

Law didn’t have to go to the restroom to find Luffy thankfully. Law did catch the slightly wet hair Luffy had when he came back and his eyes weren’t very noticeably red. 

Luffy spent most of the day rolling around in bed, with Law scolding him every once and while not too. He also spent a significant part asking when he could eat real food. 

“That’s not food!” Luffy pointed at the lunch that consisted of only soup, “It’s a drink.” 

“Think about it like, chicken but liquid.” Law said eating his own broth. 

He was slightly thankful that Sanji hadn’t given him any solid food as well. There was a good chance of Luffy trying to sneak it away when Law wasn’t paying attention. 

Luffy grumbled while sipping the soup in between the mumbles, putting his legs out on the ground. 

The two were sitting on the floor against the wall because one, Law did not in any way trust Luffy to not spill his food on the desk; two, Law didn’t trust him not to spill his food on the damn bed. 

Law caught a glimpse of Luffy’s foot in his regular sandals and noticed something was off. 

“Did you kick something with your foot?” Law asked in a tired voice. 

Luffy looked at him with a mouth full of the broth. He looked at his foot and saw what Law had seen. His big toe nail was completely purple. 

“Yeah, it was a huge rock in the forest.” Luffy said after swallowing his food finally. 

“You just can’t not get hurt for like two seconds.” Law muttered, “I’ll look at it in a bit.” 

“How did you become a doctor Torao?” Luffy asked. 

“My parents were doctors and I was interested in the field.” Law shrugged, “I’ve been studying it for a while.” 

“How long?” 

“I believe … since I was seven?” 

“That sounds really boring.” Luffy said with a disappointed expression but then changed his tune a bit, “It’s good that you studied so young cause now you’re a super smart doctor!”

“I’m not a doctor yet.” 

“Close enough.” Luffy shrugged, “My grandpa probably would have wanted me to do that instead.” 

“What are you interested in doing?” 

“I want to travel around for a bit.” Luffy said, finishing up his soup, “Then probably try and get a cool job. I don’t really know what yet, but I’ll figure it out!” 

Law had Luffy sit on the bed, while he checked his foot. Earlier Law had put back at the wires and machines that had been in use and fixed the bed with little to no help from the person who did it himself. 

He needed to be sure there wouldn’t be an infection from this. Luffy looked around the room, not really interested in the fact that he injured himself, again. 

Law paused after a bit. 

“Ah, we’re going to have to remove it.”

“The nail?!” Luffy asked, moving slightly back. 

“No, the foot.” 

Luffy froze before yelling, “Torao please don’t shop my foot off! I don’t wanna hop around everywhere!” 

“Not my fault you injured yourself.” 

“I won’t do it again I swe-”

Luffy stopped when he caught a sight of Law’s smirk and amused eyes. 

“THAT’S MEAN TORAO! You scared me!” Luffy said, grabbing the pillow and trying to smack him with it. 

“Okay but seriously, the nail might have to be removed so stay off it until it heals … or falls off.” Law said, “But unlike a foot, it’ll grow back.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” Luffy said, now hugging the pillow. 

Night began to fall and Luffy found joy in the swivel chair from the other room, pushing himself back and forth across the room as Law read. 

Law had realized it was now six days since they had all been placed here. It really felt like an eternity, felt like the outside world was so far out of reach. 

“We’ll go get food in the morning,” Law said, closing the book he was looking at.

“I wonder how Sanji and Zoro are doing.” Luffy said then snickered, “Zoro probably lost all the food.”

“He was that bad with directions?” Law asked, getting up from his chair.

“Terrible! Worse than me, and believe me, Ace told me so a lot.” Luffy said before asking, “What are you doing Torao?”

“It’s just us too here, which is somewhat dangerous.” Law said, moving the wooden chair he had been using, in front of the door, “In case someone comes in, this will at least somewhat alert us.”

Luffy frowned at this.

Law knew what he was implying, that another student would come in the middle of the night to try and kill them.

“I don’t think we need to do that but okay.” Luffy said.

“There’s no locks here Mugiwara-ya.” Law said, “I rather do this just in case.”

Luffy laid back his bed as Law took the swivel chair and moved that to the desk instead. Law turned the small light on, to help him read in the darkening room.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Luffy asked.

“I’m not tired at the moment, but I will eventually.” Law said, not looking up from his book.

Law felt slightly frustrated how his idea of looking at the books available for clues never brought any results, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t brush up on some of the material.

Silence filled the room save for the small shifting and moving coming from Luffy. Every once and a while he would change position as though not finding a comfortable position.

It was an hour after ten did Luffy sit up on the bed and said, “Torao, I can’t fall asleep.”

“I’m the worst person to say that too.” Law muttered, not looking up from his book.

“What are you reading?” Luffy asked, moving towards the desk.

“Different symptoms for certain poisons.”

Luffy only looked at him and Law got the message. Law went on for a bit, explaining from the book the different types of berries that were listed and differences between the poisoned ones and non poisonous ones.

“These are Yew Seeds and-”

“They look like olives.” Luffy said absentmindedly.

“Do not eat these.” Law said, “Technically only the middle part is poisonous but it’s still not a good idea to try and eat around it. Why do you even wanna know this stuff?”

Luffy shifted a bit, “It’s … a good distraction and maybe if I get bored enough, I’ll fall asleep!”

Before Law could respond, Luffy went on saying, “You do this a lot huh? To distract yourself? That’s why you’ve done this for so long.”

Law’s throat went dry.

His thoughts consisted of; Am I really that easy to read? Or is he just guessing? No way, he’s that perspective enough.

“It helps with staying up. I prefer not to sleep.”

“You shouldn’t be afraid of going to sleep.” Luffy said, look of concern.

Law decided to change the topic quickly. He didn’t need to delve into his recurring nightmares that as much he pretended to be used to it, it still hurt each time.

“I’m not afraid, although it seems you’re the one avoiding sleep. Now do you know the difference between something poisonous or venomous?”

That question immediately drew his attention away as they discussed the different animals that Luffy had gotten bitten by.

“What about a bear?” Luffy asked.

“Did you have anyone watching you when you were younger.” Law asked with an exasperated sigh.

Law had known that yes, Luffy was the ultimate lucky student, but all these incidents were just insane. How was he alive after all this time?

“Oh! Gramps left me with Dadan. And Makino was cool to be with at the bar.” Luffy said with a smile, “There was also Ace and Sabo of course!”

“Well … to answer your question, no, bears aren’t venomous.” Law said, avoiding to ask any questions about the people he mentioned. Much less the mention of a bar he had hung around.

The hours ticked by and it honestly seemed like Luffy had just as much energy as Law did, even when hitting 1 am. Although Law was beginning to have a headache from all the questions Luffy had but it surprisingly, wasn’t in a bad way.

“What are these berries?” Luffy asked

“They’re called Atropa belladonna.” Law said, “Otherwise known as Deadly Nightshade. It’s origin is in Australia.”

Law waved his hand towards the big map that was open on one of the pages of the book which Luffy looked at closely.

“Where’s Australia again?”

Law didn’t have the energy to question Luffy’s knowledge.

“Right next to New Zealand.”

“I know where Italy is,” Luffy said, seemingly ignoring him, “It’s the boot!”

Law didn’t bother trying to bring his focus back. Only ten more minutes passed before Luffy passed out on top of the desk, instead of the bed that was two feet away from them.

Law decided to ignore his snoring and continue on reading. In between, he wondered if there was a way to set up some sort of trap for the mastermind at that hatch. But it was doubtful that they would even use the hatch again, given the state of the building.

He groaned at the clock that read six in the morning. He knew there was no chance of him falling asleep now. Law looked over at the window to see the sky was a very dark grey. His eyebrows furrowed at this.

Since when had the weather here been anything but sunny?

It was long before he could see it begin to rain down on the resort and hearing the light taps of water against the window.

Luffy began to shift a bit.

Law frowned, knowing that he had only slept for about a max of five hours. Yet, here he was, yawning while sitting up.

“Good morning Torao!”

Law was taken aback from his sudden burst of energy. Luffy walked around and looked out the window, not even having the hint of exhaustion on him. One wouldn’t be able to tell he was asleep not two minutes ago.

“Oohhh it’s raining outside!” Luffy gasped then turned back to him and laughed, “You look so grumpy!”

“This is my face.” Law said in a monotone voice.

“You didn’t even sleep huh?” Luffy grinned.

“I’m under no obligation to answer that.” Law said closing the book he was looking at. He had switched to looking at different diseases affecting the heart after Luffy had gone to sleep.

Luffy continued to stare out the window and while it didn’t seem like much, it made Law feel as though he was intruding on something. Luffy stared but wasn’t looking anywhere. He then relaxed his shoulders telling Law that it was okay to talk now.

“We have to go get some more food by Sanji today. We’ll come back afterwards.” Law said, getting up.

“Can we use the wheelchair?!” Luffy asked, excitedly.

Law had concern for Luffy’s quick changes in behavior but brushed it off.

Thanks to Law’s general laziness, he reluctantly agreed. He had to practically force Luffy to actually sit down on the chair instead of pushing it around the hospital.

“I don’t get why you’re in such a rush.” Luffy said with his arms crossed.

“The last thing I need is for the weather to get worse and we’ll be practically swimming our way to the damn hotel.” Law muttered, pulling on his white coat. Luffy’s clothes weren't any better than Law, wearing just shorts and a dress shirt. Oh yeah, and sandals of all things.

Law opened the door to exit for one second before he saw the practical buckets of rain falling.

Law put a hand on his head as he sighed loudly.

“Whoa!” Luffy said but in no way deterred by this, “We should run through it!”

“That’s literally the only option right now.” Law muttered, taking off his coat, “Here, hold on to the sleeves.”

The coat was now over Law’s head while his hands held onto the handles of the wheelchair and Luffy’s held the coat in place.

“Yes! Ready?” Luffy said, “Three, two, one!”

Law couldn’t believe himself giving into running through the rain while Luffy laughed and yelled with joy. Law was thankful that no one would be out to see them like this, they wouldn’t live it down if they had.

Law felt his back back was soaked now but Luffy seemed to be having the time of his life, despite also getting somewhat wet. They were just approaching the hotel when-

“Luffy!”

Luffy stopped his yelling and looked over at Carrot who was taking inside the animals into the animal center. He could see the pigs and horses that were eating inside their own stalls.

“Hi Carrot!” Luffy waved as Law tried to hide his face from her.

Law ran a bit faster now, going up the ramp and going inside the hotel as quickly as he could manage.

“Finish!” Luffy declared throwing off the soaked coat.

Law was busy catching his breath as Luffy went on about some sort of victory. What victory was there to win when they were soaked as hell? Law thought. Luffy was the least wet out of the two but that wasn’t saying much thanks to Law’s soaked appearance.

Taking off the coat and hat wasn’t even helpful at that point.

“I hope there’s some towels in this place.” Law muttered, taking them to the dining room.

“We should do that again on the way back.” Luffy said, kicking his legs.

“You know, you being in the wheelchair was for a reason right? It’s so that you don’t move!” Law yelled.

Luffy opened his mouth to talk before Usopp yelled, “Luffy! You’re legs?!”

Usopp ran to them in a panic pointing at Luffy sitting on the wheelchair.

“Can you no longer walk?” Usopp asked before turning to Sanji who was in the kitchen, “I thought you said he was fine?!”

“Don’t look at me, I’m just relaying what he told me.” Sanji said, pointing back at Law.

Luffy meanwhile had stood up while Law put the wheelchair aside. Luffy stood right next to Usopp when he turned back to yell at Law. Luffy’s sudden appearance caused him to jump backwards while Luffy laughed.

“I can walk, it’s just Torao’s being lame.”

Law gave him a look but said nothing as he sat next to Bonney who sat on the other side of Zoro, who was … asleep on the table. Meanwhile, Luffy talked enthusiastically to Usopp about the race Law and Luffy had apparently.

“What’s up with him?” Law asked.

Bonney shrugged, “He was asleep when I got here. Also you’re soaked dude.”

“Didn’t notice,” Law said sarcastically, “We’ll probably have to take a shower right now before eating.”

“Eh, don’t bother. You won’t be able to get into your rooms right now.” Bonney said.

“Why not?”

“Cause the rooms only open at seven am, also why Caesar has that dumb rule of the curfew being at ten pm.” Bonney muttered.

Law forgot all about the limited time thanks to him spending most of his nights at the hospital center.

“Shouldn’t Luffy be like … not walking around?”

Law looked over to Luffy who was happily messing around with Usopp in a gleeful manner.

“He’s fine to walk but he really should be resting instead.” Law shook his head.

Bonney suddenly leaned a bit closer and asked in a lower tone, “Does he even … know? I mean, he’s acting the exact same as he had when we first got here.”

“He had memories of it.” Law said, “It seems he’s bounced back from it rather quickly.”

Law didn’t voice the clear hints that he Luffy was not fine at all. She didn’t have to know that much information.

They didn’t get to their conversation before Sanji served them their food. Near the same time, Vivi and Nami came into the dining room, both extremely glad to see Luffy up and about.

“Luffy are you feeling better?” Vivi asked.

“I don’t accept that huge scare you gave us.” Nami said pointedly.

“I feel great thanks to Torao and Chopper!” Luffy said.

“Hey, Luffy your fo-!”

Sanji didn't even have to finish his sentence before Luffy rushed himself onto the chair next to Law for his food. Luffy frowned immediately at his food.

“Soup again?” Luffy pouted.

“How many times do I have to say that you destroy not only your organs but all of mine and Chopper’s work on you.” Law said nonchalantly.

“Boy I could never,” Bonney said, chowing down on her own food.

“Can he have tea or something?” Sanji asked, “It could help calm his hunger a bit.”

“Yes, no coffee though.” Law said.

“Trust me, I would never in my life give him coffee.” Sanji said with wide eyes.

Luffy didn’t seem to get and kept downing his soup at an unreasonable rate. Usopp, Nami, and Vivi took their seats in front of the four already seated. Sanji finished serving them as well before going to try and wake up the sleeping swordsmen to no avail.

“I would not be surprised if you manage to choke on the soup.” Law muttered, taking only spoonfuls of his own soup.

“I didn’t think a weather change would ever happen in here.” Nami said staring out the window, “You’d figure since it’s a resort, you would keep it sunny all the time.”

“It’s still weird how it’s all artificial.” Vivi said, “Why go to such lengths in a fake environment?”

“Speaking of which, you two are absolutely soaked,” Nami laughed while pointing at Luffy and Law who both had their hair plastered to heads.

“We didn’t exactly have a cho-”

“Torao and I had a race in the rain and he gave me his coat!” Luffy said, finally taking a breath from inhaling his soup.

Nami gave a cat-like grin to Law, making him regret taking Luffy out of the hospital center in the first place.

“His coat?” Nami asked in a suggestive way that Law didn’t appreciate.

“Nami, quit it.” Vivi whispered while failing to hide her giggling.

Law gave Usopp a quick glance which was all he needed for Usopp to jump in his seat before getting everyone’s attention.

“H-h-h-hey guess what I found at the library yesterday when we were there.” Usopp said before pulling out a deck of playing cards, giving a ‘Ta-da!’.

“Oh Usopp!” Vivi said, looking past Nami, “That’s perfect for a day like this. Given that it’s no fun to go exploring right now.”

Nami looked interested as well before deflating a bit, “Aw there’s no money to bet on here.”

“You don’t have to have money to play,” Vivi said with a smile.

Nami gave a smug smile while saying, “Good thing for everyone else, because I’d run you all dry.”

“That a challenge?” Bonney said with a grin, all while chewing on her food.

Nami stuck her tongue out a bit playfully to Vivi, “Trust me Vivi, I’d win your entire kingdom if we went on long enough.”

Vivi had a smile but was pale from the thought of Nami managing to steal the entire kingdom from under her. She seemed genuinely convinced that Nami would be able to do something that grand.

“Don’t worry, I’d give it back after I take some of the profits.” Nami said, giving her a reassuring pat.

“We can play this one game that does not involve Nami bankrupting all of us.” Usopp said quickly.

Usopp gave a quick explanation of the game of just basically putting a card down, saying a number until you run out of cards. Caught in a lie and you take the pile of cards.

“Oh Bullshit.” Bonney said.

“Or oooorrr we can say the PG version.” Usopp said, “BS,”

Bonney gave a perplexed expression but went along with it.

“Luffy, do you want to play too?” Vivi asked eagerly.

“Oh uhhh I’m still eating so.” Luffy responded, looking off to the side.

“Is it cause you’re a shit liar?” Law asked, monotoned.

Luffy choked on the soup for a second. He gave a slight glare to Law with his cheeks still puffed up from holding in the soup.

“I’ll play with Torao then!”

“Hey that’s a team!” Nami said.

“He can barely count. It’s more of a handicap if anything.”

“OI!”

They had thought it would be a good way to release some tension while playing but it turned out to have the opposite effect. Slowly but surely the pile of cards built up in the middle with no one being brave enough to call the other out on lying.

“Oh my god, someone just say BS!” Bonney yelled as Vivi put down a jack card. She looked concentrated despite Bonney’s interruption.

“You do it then.” Usopp pointed out.

“Hell no, the pile has like thirty cards. Whoever loses, practically loses the game.” Bonney said.

“That’s why no one’s doing it!” Nami yelled back as Law put down a queen card.

“How has he not woken up yet?” Vivi asked, looking over at Zoro who’s been asleep the entire time they’ve been yelling at each other.

Luffy was looking back and forth at Law’s cards and the deck but seemed to not be all that interested in the game and continued eating his fourth bowl of soup.

Card by card, the pile built up in the middle of all of them.

Unfortunately for Law, he was the first to be on his last card, meaning everyone was now looking to him to put down his card. Nami and Bonney especially seemed eager to call Bs on the last card since it had a very high chance of not being the correct card.

“Not prepared to hold the whole deck in your hands?” Bonney asked.

Luffy finally paid attention again trying to look over at his card now, “Wait, what’s the card?”

Law’s hand slid the card away, “Now you want to know the card? You had the chance before.”

Ignoring Luffy’s frowning face, law placed the final card saying, “Four.”

“Now there’s no way.” Bonney moved before Nami did, flipping over the card before nearly just as fast slamming it against the table.

“Are you kidding me?!” Bonney yelled, walking away from the table.

“‘Not prepared to hold the whole deck in your hands’ Jewelry-ya?” Law asked, making her yell in frustration.

Vivi laughed, holding her stomach at that point. Usopp also laughed just as hard while Luffy was still trying to figure out what was happening. Nami seemed to be shocked even as Vivi held on to her shoulder for support.

“After all that! What dumb luck.” Usopp said chuckling.

Nami suddenly sprang up and pointed at Law, “Ah ha! Cheating!”

“How?” Vivi asked through her laughter.

“He had the Ultimate Lucky Student on his side of course!” Nami explained simply, “Therefore cheating. Sorry Law, it’s not a win.”

Law gave a smile and shrugged at it while Luffy said, “Ooh! I’ll play next!”

It didn’t take a full game to see that Luffy was just a terrible liar. The group played for a while with Sanji even joining after finishing up taking everyone’s meals to them and cleaning up the kitchen. Carrot joined them as well after finishing up taking care of the animals.

“Doesn’t it get a bit tiring cleaning the kitchen and serving everyone all of the time?” Law inquired.

Sanji gave a laugh and asked with a cheeky grin, “Does it get a bit tiring staring at a medical book all the time?”

“Suppose not.” Law answered while Luffy tugged on his arm.

“Toraoooo, Nami’s being mean.” Luffy whined.

“You act like I can do anything about that.”

“Sanji the food you make is so good. It’s not wonder you’re called the Ultimate Cook!” Usopp said, giving a laugh.

Law could have sworn a small blush appeared on sanji’s face for a split second before Luffy started talking about something else. Something to do with beetles? Law wasn’t too sure.

“The rain hasn’t let up even a bit.” Nami said, shocked.

Vivi gave a concerned look, “Umm, are you two going to be alright going back to the hospital center?”

“Probably gonna need an extra change of clothes and a shower.” Law said pointing to Luffy, “Other than that, we could try to look for more protective clothing.”

“Or just give him your coat again.” Nami said under her breath but it was loud enough for Law to hear.

“Okay, I’m going to go up.” Law said standing up while Luffy turned and followed him, saying, “Torao, push me in the wheelchair again!”

“We’re taking an elevator?” Law said in a questioning tone, furrowing his eyebrows at the shorter male.

“Not the stairs?”

Law didn’t think he would have to have an argument about how pushing a wheelchair up the stairs was not only a waste of energy but was also not a fun thing to do. Luffy claimed otherwise, saying it’d be perfect to go down once you’re at the top.

Exiting the elevator, Law wondered once more how Luffy has lived for so long. The two passed by Kid, Killer, and Apoo going to their rooms.

Law entered his room only to find a box on his bed.

I swear if this thing kills me, was Law’s first thought, I will personally haunt the shit out of Caesar.

Slowly, he carefully lifts the box’s lid. Moving it to the side, at first was confused at the object until he pulled it out and revealed a long black winter coat.

Letting out a sigh in annoyance, Law wondered, he really couldn’t have sent this to him any other way?

One quick shower and packing a few extra clothes inside the box later, Law left the room and waited for Luffy in his new black coat. Law did knock and reminded Luffy to bring extra clothes. It didn’t take long before Luffy happily exited with his own coat that made him look like a gigantic candy cane.

Law didn’t even have to look down to see he was still wear sandals despite wearing a winter outfit.

“Were there no boots in the box?” Law asked.

“Those are uncomfortable.” Luffy said, “I like my sandals!”

“I know I don’t have the best taste in fashion but I think sandals and a coat would drive Nami-ya insane.” Law commented.

“As long as I like it, it doesn’t matter.” Luffy said with a grin.

Entering the elevator, Law chided himself for constantly forgetting how Luffy didn’t care about others' opinions too much. To be fair, there weren’t many who were so unapologetically honest like him.

The rain was still pouring just as hard as when they had left. Law thought about the amount of water that was probably being wasted for raining for so long. He wondered where all that water was draining to in the first place.

“I got the wheelchair!” Luffy said excitedly, pushing it.

“It would have been great to have gotten an umbrella too.” Law muttered, standing right by the large glass doors of the hotel.

“You mean this?” Luffy said, rummaging through his pockets and pulled out a small red umbrella.

“Did you get the food from Sanji too?” Law asked, not even questioning the umbrella anymore. At least they had one.

Luffy immediately sprinted back to the kitchen without another word.

“Are you going to be monitoring him the entire day?” Nami asked with a knowing smile.

“Well he was severely injured and like you trust him to stay in one spot for too long.” Law said before turning back on her, “What about you and Vivi?”

Nami went red and didn’t have the chance before Luffy came back with the bag of food.

“Torao let’s go race again!”

“No, we’re walking now thanks to the umbrella.”

Luffy grumbled about how he shouldn’t have given the umbrella to him while he sat down on the wheelchair. They walked out in the heavy rain but thankfully there were no strong winds blowing at them.

Law had a tough time getting Nami’s words out of his head. He knew he didn’t have those kinds of feelings towards Luffy. Sure Luffy was good company but that’s not enough. Even if he did, there were multiple reasons against a relationship with Luffy.

Major reason number one was that Luffy just lost his brother in this damn killing game. If there was any kind of list of what times in your life to not get into a relationship, that would be up there.

The second reason was that they were still stuck in said killing game. This was no time to be messing around, taking things lightly.

Third reason was that Luffy just didn’t seem like he’d even be interested in a relationship with him or anyone for that matter. He’s too carefree. Hell, he’s seemed to have turned down the most beautiful woman in the world and he-

Law stopped in his tracks. He indirectly ended the quiet but comfortable silence between the two of them.

“Torao?” Luffy looked up directly at him.

“Sorry, thought I saw something.” Law said before continuing his walk.

You’re thinking about this way too much, Law scolded himself.

“The forest looks like a lot of fun to explore.” Luffy said pointing at the forest that surrounded the perimeter of the buildings and themselves, “Wish they actually had bugs though.”

“You’d figure there would be some kind of bug in there. Maybe with the wider area, you might be able to find one.” Law said absentmindedly.

“You wanna explore the forest with me?” Luffy said, already seemingly getting up from his seat.

“You just want to not stay inside.” Law said.

“But I’m recovering fine! How much more do I have to rest?”

“Until I say so- You make me sound like a damn parent!”

“That’s not my fault.” Luffy said before changing the subject, “But there might be more stuff in there! I remember I used to find beetles all the time when I was back home!”

Luffy does seem like the type to find random beetles as a kid, Law thought, but he couldn’t judge based on his own childhood interests.

“We’re already here, maybe you should do that tomorrow.” Law immediately regretted his words when Luffy turned back to him with a wide grin.

“You promise?”

Law opened the door to the hospital center and thought, he has been resting for a while and I rather not deal with a Luffy that’s been stuck in doors for three days straight.

“Fine but-”

“YES!” Luffy lept from the wheelchair, running inside the building.

Law sighed and brought the wheelchair inside, closing the umbrella that was dripping water everywhere.

“What other buildings do you think are here now?” Luffy asked.

“Well they mentioned a sauna and a library.” Law said setting the umbrella aside to dry.

“I don’t remember the last time I’ve been to a library.” Luffy thought back.

“Though you would be more interested in exploring for bugs?”

Luffy nodded with a smile, “It’d be weird if a forest didn’t have them!”

Law wondered how he could dry the wheelchair when Luffy said, “I’m going head to bathroom right now,”

Law didn’t get to see his face as he left the room but Law felt something was off. He thought about stopping him and talking to him but couldn’t himself too before he heard the bathroom’s door close.

Maybe I should wait for him, Law thought.

However the pang in his chest was telling him otherwise. No one deserved to go through something alone. Despite his attitude at the dining room, Law was sure the others were just as concerned for his mental state.

Unable to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach the more his mind flashed back to the screams of anguish Luffy had made the morning prior.

Law found himself opening the door to the bathroom, walking past most of the closed stalls to the one closed one.

There was no noise in the room but Law could clearly see the sandals poking from under it.

“Mugiwara-ya.”

No answer was given but he heard shuffling from inside.

“Mugiwara-ya, please come out.”

“There’s other stalls you know.” Luffy muttered but Law could hear the cracks in his voice.

“This isn’t about the stalls. You and I both know that.” Law said before sighing, “You can stay in there as long as you want, but either way, you’ll have to come out.”

Law knew it could be inappropriate of him to rush Luffy like this. He should come out on his own time, reach out to others for help on his own. Law just didn’t think that would happen here for a while, Luffy was closing it off to everyone else.

Whether that bed from not knowing others too well or not, it was an issue. A constantly deteriorating mental state is the last thing anyone needs at the moment.

A loud click came from the stall and Law had backed himself against one of the sinks to give space. Luffy had puffy, bloodshot eyes and was still trying to rub them away as his sniffled.

“It’s alright to cry but talking about this sort of thing is important as well.” Law said simply.

Luffy walked to Law, surprising him as he plopped himself on the ground under the sink. Law went and sat down with him, but not under the sink thanks to his much larger height. Still, Law sat close by.

Luffy sobs continued as Law looked off to the side in silence.

“You know …” Law said through his hiccups, “He always called me one big cry baby when we were younger.”

Law said nothing and let him continue.

“He would have probably yelled at me even now.” Luffy said, the cracking in his voice increasing, “Saying to suck it up or that the world won’t wait for me.”

“How encouraging.” Law commented.

Luffy gave a small laugh at that before frowning again, “But he’s right. The world won’t wait for me. Everyone else are worried in this dumb game. I can’t … I can’t be so weak.”

“Forgive me Mugiwara-ya but hiding these emotions are not going to make you any stronger.”

“I know that!” Luffy yelled, but Law didn’t flinch, “But I don’t … I can’t make everyone worried right now and I was having a good time at breakfast with Nami and Usopp and Vivi …”

Luffy’s body shook and trembled as more sobs racked his body. He seemed to be trying to get more words out but couldn’t.

Law waited but he had an idea what was going through his mind after saying that last bit.

“Do you fear that you shouldn’t be having fun right now?”

Luffy stopped shaking as much and lifted his head to look back at Law and for the first time since they had entered, looked directly at him.

“Guilty or ashamed?” Law asked, “I assume it goes both ways. Like you could have done something different or that you shouldn't be having a good time right now.”

Luffy gulped, looking down again before nodding. His hands held together his legs close to his chest, as though trying to make himself small as possible.

“I wish I had stopped him. Or showed him that hatch.” Luffy drew a shaky breath, “Maybe he would have stayed. But now that he’s gone …”

The clean white walls of the bathroom echoed the silence between them.

“I don’t know what to do Law.” Luffy said with his shoulders shaking.

Law closed his eyes and thought for a second before saying, “What would your brother say you should do next?”

Luffy looked at him while rubbing one of his eyes.

“I didn’t know him very well. In fact, I probably spoke to him only two times.” Law said, “But I know that he would want you to survive. He knows you are strong. So …”

Law got up from the floor, and put his hand out towards Luffy.

“Ready to fight your way out of here one way or another?”

Staring at the hand, Luffy began to move forward slowly. Law didn’t get a warning when Luffy practically tackled him into a hug, burying his head in Law’s chest.

Not expecting the sudden hug, Law froze from the sudden contact before awkwardly moving to hug him back.

This is just because he was crying a moment ago, he needs this, Law convinced himself.

Luffy looked up and gave a wide, determined smile.

“I’m ready!”

Law was glad of the change but still had some concerns he needed to voice.

“You do know you can probably talk to anyone when you’re feeling bad okay?” Law said, poking his head, “Zoro, Nami, and Vivi would all listen to you just as much so please don’t hold this in. If you don’t feel well, say something.”

Luffy looked over to the side and said, “O-okay.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying!”

“That’s a lie too, you’re too obvious!” Law shot back.

Luffy laughs at this before giving a small smile, “Thank you Torao, I'll do my best.”

Luffy went past him to the sink to wash up his face while Law stood in the same position as before.

Law desperately tried to stop the growing blush from appearing on his face while having the repeated thought in his head; Why does he have to be so cute?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some scenes that happened with the more secondary characters (yes there's more) and they aren't really important to the overall plot but adds some context to some character interactions. I was thinking about doing some small bonus chapters of those scenes so tell me if you're interested. 
> 
> Also this chapter went on for so much longer than I had planned. Seriously, I have an entire outline of this fic and the first two days with Luffy recovering was only TWO lines (out of the ten) and it some how extended for much longer than I planned to cover some other elements for future murders and ... 
> 
> I blame the Lawlu scenes.


	8. Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's best to keep an eye out on others. No one knows what another is planning until it's too late.

_Is it all planned?_

_Coughing, gasping for air._

_The smell of iron filled the air._

_Was that blood pouring from the eyes?_

_What does he mean by failed?_

_How is this considered a failure?_

“Luffy! I’m so glad you’re doing better!” Hancock said, arriving at the hospital center. 

She entered the room where both Law and Luffy were staying, carrying a rather large bag with containers inside of it.

Luffy looked back quickly behind him to check on Law. Law had just fallen asleep just an hour before. Luffy was slightly concerned that he had woken up from Hancock’s loud entrance. 

Hancock was about to continue saying something before Luffy made a quiet motion with one of his hands to her. Her look of confusion dissipated when she got a glance of Law sleeping over his desk, now mildly annoyed.

“What happened Hammock?” Luffy asked a quieter tone. His eyes wandered to the package more than they did her. 

“Oh I was wondering if you would like to umm …” 

Luffy didn’t understand why Hancock’s eyes were turned downward and her cheeks were pink. 

The shaking of Luffy’s leg gave away his attention on Hancock was decreasing fast, making Hancock hurry up. 

“I was wondering if you would want to go with me and explore the forest?” Hancock asked, “You know like a-”

“Oh! Yeah! I’ve been wanting to explore the forest!” Luffy exclaimed, “We can go meet up with everyone else if they’re outside of their rooms too!” 

Hancock’s face no longer was red or puffed up so Luffy took that as a yes. Luffy was about to start to leave when he remembered who he was leaving behind in the room. Taking another look back at Law, Luffy contemplated staying or going a bit more. 

“I don’t thinkTorao is going to be very happy if I just leave.” Luffy said almost forcefully. 

While he certainly didn’t mind spending time with Law, he certainly did mind having to be in the same room for two days straight. Luffy needed something new to do or see before he’d go crazy.

Hancock pursed her lips, “You don’t have to tell him _everything_. You’re free to go where you want after all.” 

“As the one of the closest people to a doctor we have here I _recommend_ he rests.” Law answered back in an annoyed tone making Luffy freeze. 

Luffy hadn’t realized that Law had lifted his head and was rubbing his eyes now until he had spoken. Luffy could have sworn he saw smoke coming from Hancock’s ears when she turned to him.

“Sneaking out I see,” Law commented.

“I wasn’t!” Luffy defended before saying under his breath, “I was thinking about it…” 

Law sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead. 

“Boa-ya, make sure he doesn’t reopen his wounds.” 

“How dare you accuse me of not watching out for Luffy,” Hancock pointed at Law, “I will do a better job than you would and I made meals for his treatment for today as well.”

“Oh you made it yourself Hammock?” Luffy asked excitedly. He had already been eyeing the bag for a good while and continued to do so while Hancock and Law threw each other their own distinct death glares. 

A loud crash jolted everyone’s attention towards the window. Just outside the window was the warehouse next door. 

“Eustass-ya,” Law groaned. 

“Luffy let’s go and maybe we can have umm … a picnic together?” Hancock asked, putting her hands to her face. 

Luffy grinned at this, “A picnic? That sounds cool! Let’s go Hammock!” Luffy ran out of the room while Hancock yelled for him to wait for her. Luffy rushed past Robin and Chopper who were coming into the hospital center. 

“Good morning Luffy,” Robin smiled while Chopper went and hugged Luffy, making sure not to hug too tightly. “Luffy! I’m glad you’re doing better!” Chopper said, trying to keep in his tears while Luffy laughed. 

“Torao told me how you guys saved me,” Luffy said hugging back, “Thank you so much Chopper!” 

Chopper didn’t seem to want to pull away, mostly to try and get rid of the tears. Luffy focused on Robin instead while Chopper was pulling himself together, “Good morning Robin! Did you explore the new part of the forest yet?” 

“Yes I did,” Robin said, “I’ll let you discover the areas for yourself of course. It’s no fun to be spoiled.”

Luffy nodded, glad she understood his curiosity. 

“You’re going to explore the forest Luffy?!” Chopper suddenly yelled, backing away, “Did you sneak away from Torao? You should be resting!” 

“Torao said it was fine,” Luffy said and then got cut off by Hancock who interjected with, “I’m watching after Luffy to make sure he’ll be fine.” 

Luffy frowned at this persistent reminder. He didn’t appreciate the feeling of being babysitted and having that being constantly repeated by Hancock, but he is injured. Luffy decided to say nothing to this as Chopper sighed and seemed to give the okay for them to continue. 

With saying their goodbyes, Luffy could finally take in the outside of the hospital center. The air remained damp from the previous rainy nights. He found himself happily stomping into the puddles that had formed. However the slight stinging from his toe made him pause a bit but didn’t stop his enjoyment of the cool air. The sky … or whatever was above them a roof? Its ceiling was still a murky gray and not it’s usual vibrant blue. 

“-so that Apoo claimed he wasn’t following but going to the warehouse like-” Hancock rambled as she caught up to Luffy but he was only catching bits and pieces of what she was saying. He was much more focused on the new surroundings that the forest had to offer. 

There was a muddy but obvious path that had been laid out for the forest in front of them. Luffy took note in the lack of noise beside Hancock’s constant blubbering. There was no sense of wildlife anywhere, including any big or obvious insects. The greenery did help Luffy feel more at home, reminding him of his home in Goa with its thick trees and flower life. 

Luffy suddenly gained an idea while he stared at the tall trees that surrounded them. “I’m going to climb up there to get a better view!” Luffy exclaimed before gripping hard on the trunk of one of the trees. 

“Wait Luffy! I don’t think that’s a-” 

Luffy moved with ease, grabbing branch after branch, pulling himself upwards quickly. The dampness in the air only increased as he went up and he could feel the moisture gathering on his skin. It did make him a bit more careful where Luffy grabbed because the water could easily make him slip. He ignored the slight burning sensation coming from his chest and pressed onward until he could poke his head out at the top of the tree.

Looking dowards, he couldn’t have been more than 100 feet in the air. The cold air filled his lungs as he took a deep breath, looking around. The top of the trees were mostly all that Luffy could see. Taking a look to the opposite side of the hotel, he could get a clearer view of the amusement park that was still apparently closed off. 

Leaning against the tree, Luffy felt very relaxed up there where he could just explore. Some of the buildings were nearby from what he could see and was interested to see what those held besides the forest. 

“LUFFY!” 

“WHAT?” Luffy yelled back down, thinking at first it was Hancock but it sounded too gruff to be Hancock. 

“Dude get down from there!” 

Luffy huffed but obliged as he took one last look around the green leaves. On the way down, he inspected to see that the tree was real and not fake, but it didn’t tell him why there weren’t even the smaller insects like ants. Shrugging it off, Luffy continued down as he heard Zoro and Hanock’s argument on the ground. 

“You go and get him!” 

“Ha?! I’m not climbing that! You do it!”

“How dare you, I’m wearing heels!”

“Why are you even wearing heels in the muddy forest? You can just … take them _off_?” Zoro asked in bewilderment. 

“YOU PREVERT!” Hancock gapped and was just about to go ballistic on Zoro when Luffy leapt and landed on the ground. 

“Oh thank fuck,” Zoro muttered while Hancock practically jumped over to Luffy, asking if he was okay and if he had hurt himself. 

“I’m good and I got a good view of the amusement park, but I didn’t really see much else besides trees,” Luffy said and then turned to Zoro, “Oh good morning Zoro! Are you exploring the forest too? Hancock said we should have a picnic, you should join,” 

Zoro only had to see the seething glare coming from Hancock to see that Luffy had no idea what she had actually been referring to. 

“I’ll pass, but the garden area would be good for that. I was making my way to the sauna right now actually.” Zoro said. 

“A sauna?” Luffy asked excitedly before his stomach began to rumble a bit. He turned to Hancock at this, “We should just eat now, on the way over is fine.” 

Hancock’s face went red again and Luffy was beginning to wonder if she had some kind of fever that made her keep mumbling and turning red. Hancock merely handed over the bag of food and he began to eat quickly as they walked down the path. 

“Ha! You’re still on your diet,” Zoro said with a grin at Luffy, who was sipping his broth that had been prepared in a cup-like container. Luffy narrowed his eyes at Zoro, “It’s not even that bad! I should be able to eat whatever I want.” 

“Do you not like it Luffy?” Hancock asked worriedly. 

“Hmm? Oh no, it’s good Hammock!” Luffy said but failed at hiding his disappointment at the lack of solid food or meat in general in his meal. Not that Luffy would say it out loud, but Sanji’s cooking surpassed Hancock’s but taste didn’t matter that much to him. Nevertheless Hancock had a depressive aura around her after that.

At one point during their walk, Luffy had to pull Zoro back from walking off the path … twice. 

“How deep is this forest?” Luffy asked, “Even from high up, I couldn’t see a lot.” “It’s a good distance from everything else.” Zoro said. “Ohhh, is that cause you keep getting lost?” Luffy asked in between bites of his jello thing. He wasn’t really paying attention to what he was eating anymore. 

“It still takes awhile to get there either way!” Zoro shot back while Luffy laughed, “Well everyone seems a bit better than before coming out and stuff. It gave me a rest from damn swirly-brow.” 

“Well we can’t stay inside forever,” Hancock huffed. 

“Why was everyone locked up inside anyways?” Luffy asked. 

The tenison thickened between Zoro and Hancock which flew under the radar for Luffy. Luckily the two didn’t have to answer when Luffy caught view of the huge wooden building down the left path. The right path was blocked off but it didn’t stop Luffy from his excitement and began to run to the building. 

“What building is this one?” Luffy asked running up to it. He found his sandals were sinking in slightly with each slap they made against the muddy floor. Looking up at the wooden building, he could see the intricate details of the building and the traditional windows and curving of the rooftop. Luffy ‘ooo’ at the building while he took another gulp from his cup. 

“This is the sauna building,” Zoro said, “The back has the outside ones.” Luffy excitedly reached for the door knob only to find it not open. He tugged on it harder but it didn’t budge an inch. Frowning at this Luffy continued to try and force his way through by tugging as hard as he could on the door handle. 

“You’re going to break that thing and you need to use your handbook thing to enter it,” Zoro said, taking out his slightly thick tablet from his pocket. He then placed it next to the scanner on the side of the door that Luffy had ignored. The two were surprised when it buzzed loudly and shined red. 

“What the-” Zoro started and tried again to avail. 

“You’re doing it wrong,” Hancock scoffed, taking hers out instead, pushing past him. She scanned hers in the exact same way that Zoro had only from hers to make a chime and go green.

“Whoa nice Hammock!” Luffy said as she opened the door easily and beamed at Luffy with a smile of her own. 

“Hold it! Hold it! Just what are you idiots doing?!” Nami yelled from inside the sauna, rushing over. Her orange hair was dripping and still clearly sweaty, more than likely from the sauna’s humidity. 

“What are you going on about?” Zoro asked in an annoyed tone. Hancock threw a quick look at him but Zoro ignored it. 

“You two can’t enter in here,” Nami pointed to Luffy and Zoro. 

“Huh?! Why not?” Luffy whined. 

“Caesar told us that once a girl comes inside the sauna, it’s locked out for the opposite gender. But once a guy comes into the sauna, the sauna will be locked out for the opposite gender as well. Entering will have that slimy stuff shot out at you.” Nami explained while she stayed inside the sauna. 

“Oh then get out,” Luffy said simply. 

“Vivi and I got here first so you two have to wait!” Nami yelled before giving a kind experison to Hancock, “Hancock you’re fine though.” Luffy crossed his arms and grumbled at this. 

“Oh we have to wait to use the sauna?” Shirahoshi asked suddenly behind them and squeaked when everyone’s eyes turned to her. 

“No, it’s only the guys.” Nami said while Zoro and Luffy gave her unamused looks. 

“Nami, I’m good to go so the guys can have their turn.” Vivi said coming up from behind Nami then stopped when she caught sight of Hancock and Shirahoshi, “Oh …” 

“I just wanna explore it and see inside,” Luffy said, “It sounds like fun!” “Saunas are supposed to be rela-” 

Hancock jabbed Zoro hard in the shoulder while she said, “Of course it’s fun!” Zoro meanwhile was gripping his shoulder tightly with his eyes bulging, he didn’t understand where Hancock’s unreasonable strength had come from as Hancock continued on about how she could wait outside for Luffy. 

Luffy who watched the exchange figured out quickly that she shouldn’t anger Hancock … and for that matter Nami as well. 

Luckily Vivi interrupted, “Uhh, we can all go show Luffy the library and garden areas in the meantime. It’s not like the sauna is going to go anywhere.” 

“Oh a garden!” Luffy said. 

All of them noticed Luffy completely ignoring the library part but nonetheless they walked as a group, much to the reluctance of Zoro who had really just wanted to go to the sauna. The library wasn’t too far down the path of the sauna but was a brick building with huge windows on either side. It could have been mistaken for a mansion was it not for the large sign that read ‘Library’ just above the front door. 

Luffy wasn’t that interested in the library but had to do a double take when he glanced at one of the huge windows. Just in the corner of it was a large hole and crack on the right window, as though something had been thrown at it. 

“What the hell?’ Nami said in a surprised voice. “That definitely wasn’t there before,” Vivi murmured. “Did someone attack the library?” Shirahoshi asked, hugging her arms. 

After inspecting closer, Hancock exclaimed, “Which one of those barbarians has the gall to throw a rock at the window?!” 

Watching farther away from the window, Luffy noticed the look that Zoro was giving him. Luffy furrowed his eyes in confusion until Zoro pointed at Luffy and then at his feet, directly at his injured toe. 

It clicked and Luffy pursed his lips, looking away to try to be discrete. 

Entering inside the library, Luffy’s nose wrinkled at the musty smell. The old books piled in random places and there were rows upon rows of books that seemed to be untouched for a while. Luffy walked around boredly and noticed an elevator off to the side that had out of order tape on it. Looking up, there was a hole above to see the floor above them. 

Hancock seemed to try and ask if Luffy was interested in anything but it seemed that Nami and Vivi were having a better time than them. Hancock left to get something? Luffy wasn’t sure, he found his attention span decreased significantly. Luffy looking over at Zoro could see that he was just as bored as he was, “Ya wanna leave?” Zoro grimaced and nodded. 

The two were able to sneak out without Nami or Hancock noticing them leaving the library. 

“You really need to work on your poker face,” Zoro sighed when the two got outside. Luffy didn’t mind the comment, “Do you know where the garden is at?” “Of course,” Zoro said before walking straight into the forest. “It’s in the forest?” Luffy questioned, titling his head, “What about the path?” “You never went there, how do you know?” Zoro pointed out. 

With only a maximum of two seconds of thinking Luffy shrugged and followed Zoro exclaiming that he was right. 

During their walk, Luffy occasionally would have the urge to scratch or pick at his bandages. When that happened, he would find the tears beginning to form in his eyes. Despite the words from Law, he did his best to look away from Zoro’s direction until he could get a hold on himself again. 

After about two hours the two finally found the garden and were both covered in mud to their knees after a couple of slips and falls. Getting the glimpse of the garden Luffy brightened at the sight of the fruits that were growing. 

“Aren’t you not supposed to eat those things?” Zoro asked. Luffy gave Zoro a look, “I’ll tell Sanji we got lost in the forest because of you.” 

“Don’t bribe me like that!” 

Luffy laughed at this but stopped himself from eating the fruits regretfully. He knew Law and Chopper would be furious with him and he didn’t want to cause them more trouble than he had already caused.

The garden was huge and spread out with one side being filled with flowers and the other side full of vegetables and fruit trees off to the side. There was a shed in the back with mounds of dirt around. 

“Must be so hard to restrain yourself from this huh?” Zoro mocked, taking a bite from one of the apples in the nearby trees. Luffy forced himself to look away while having a frustrated expression before a strange feeling crawled up spine. 

“I don’t … Did you feel that?” Luffy asked, taking a look back down the muddy path. “Feel? No,” Zoro said, looking the same direction, “I think I heard something.” 

Taking a look at Luffy’s concerned expression, Zoro sighed, “If it’s serious we would have heard an announcement.” 

Even knowing that, Luffy didn’t take his eyes off the path. 

It took Robin asking if Law had eaten to figure out that Hancock had brought food for Luffy and Luffy only, leaving him nothing in the hospital center. At around one in the afternoon, he found himself walking with Robin and Chopper to the dining room in the hotel. 

Robin had taken up the liberty in showing Chopper and Law some of her findings within the library. There were some things Law had caught within their conversation, something was off at points when Robin explained some of the findings of old history. He wasn’t completely sure just yet if he wanted to question it. 

The history books were a nice change of looking at medical books all day and getting to see something a bit different for a change. 

“I see you’ve taken a dislike towards your coat?” Robin inquired. 

“Not in particular,” Law said, “I just don’t see how I would need to wear it all the time,” “I think it fits the look,” Chopper added happily. “Would you want a coat as well?” Robin asked with a smile. 

Robin and Chopper continued the conversation while Law noticed the warehouse doors were wide open and raised an eyebrow at it but thought not too much of it.

Arriving at the dining hall, they spotted only three other people being there. Bonney who was demanding more food from Sanji who was in the kitchen and Usopp who seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with Sanji while he sat at the table nearest to the kitchen. 

Bonney gave a curious look over to Law who sat across from Usopp, just a seat away from Bonney. 

“Surprised the strawhat kid ain’t with ya,” Bonney said, biting into another slice of pizza, “Run away from treatment?” “He doesn’t have to be at my side at all times,” Law replied.

“Hancock insisted on making his food today. Guess she left out you huh?” Sanji said sheepishly, handing Law his already finished food. “Left out intentionally,” Law said after giving a thanks to Sanji, “She seems like she’ll bite my head off for breathing too loud in Luffy’s direction.” 

Bonney laughed loudly at that, slamming the table making Law lean slightly to the opposite. 

“You don’t think she’s scary?” Usopp asked, turning his attention to their conversation, “The amount of heart attacks she’s given me just by a glare,” 

“She’s not that bad, just new to the … whole love thing? I have no idea,” Bonney shrugged, “Ms. Nico did you happen to see Hancock pummel this guy?” Bonney pointed her thumb at Law who didn’t look amused. 

“No, we caught sight of those two leaving. Hancock is very determined to keep Luffy from exerting himself, so they should be fine.” Ms. Nico responded then took a sip of her tea that was handed by Sanji. 

“Lame,” Bonney said bluntly. 

The lunch (or breakfast and lunch for Law) carried on with random conversations. Most of the talking was from Usopp, going on about his great adventures to Chopper who was amazed at every word that came from his mouth. Law could catch Sanji, constantly glancing over in their direction. At one point the whole group began to talk about the constant need some of them had to check their phones when they didn’t have them in the first place. 

“You two are doctors, explain this phenomenon,” Bonney demanded. 

“It’s called being addicted.” Law answered in a deadpan tone. 

Robin gave a chuckle at this while Bonney yelled at Law for not being a real doctor or something along those lines. She then stood up, giving her empty plate to Sanji as Chopper did the same. 

“We’ll be heading back to the hospital center Law.” Chopper said as the two walked out from finishing their food. The three remaining at the table waved bye as they continued their conversation about what made a real doctor and what was common sense. 

“I answered your question Jewelry-ya. I don’t know what else you want me to say.” 

“Give your weird nerd, scientific answers.” Bonney said. 

“Why don’t you look it up on your nonexistent phone?” Law muttered sarcastically.

“Sanji, Law is being a prick again!”

“Oi that’s cheating,” Usopp interjected. 

“Cheating in what?” Law asked. 

“The argument? I’m going to be honest, you guys remind me of two people arguing the comment section of a Youtube video with two hundred plus replies.” Usopp said. 

“Okay but that’s literally the best kind of entertainment.” Bonney grinned, “It’s even better when both sides are-” 

“Alright!” a voice yelled out into the dinning hall, accompanied by the sound of the door slamming open. The group stopped their conversation to turn back and see a furious looking Kid walking in with Killer tailing behind him. 

“Who’s been taking my shit in the warehouse?” Kid accused. 

“You think I’d go by their willingly?” Bonney asked, casually. “The doors were wide open not thirty minutes ago when I passed by it.” Law said thinking back, “And there was a crash this morning.” 

“Why didn’t you say shit?!” Kid yelled. 

“Not my problem and I assumed it’d be you in there breaking stuff.” Law said, eyebrows raised. 

“It wasn’t Kid, we weren’t in there all morning.” Killer spoke up, “Just now we saw that a lot of his stuff was missing.” “One of my projects we’re fucking taken and no one’s leavng til we get that shit back,” Kid glared. 

“Why is it so important to get it back?” Sanji asked suspiciously. 

It hit Law and Bonney at the same time as shown on their face. 

“What the hell did you make?!” Bonney asked, slamming the table as she stood up. 

“That’s not … I- …” Kid stumbled while Killer sighed behind him. 

“Wow, never knew someone could be just as terrible of a liar as Mugiwara-ya.” Law commented, taking a drink of water right after. 

“Hey! I was making that stuff for fun! Not to actually use it!” Kid defended, “It’s a damn hobby just like all your weird ass hobbies.” “Mine doesn’t involve making things that can get us killed!” Bonney shot back while Usopp nodded along with her. 

“Alright, alright, we can handle this by getting everyone together.” Sanji said, turning to Kid, “You know you have to tell us what exactly we’re going to be looking for right?” “Whatever, we need to get everyone else’s asses over here.” Kid snapped. 

“That’s gonna take some time. They're all probably still checking out the new forest area.” Usopp said, “Maybe we should send one person to go get them.”

“And tell them what? This moron let some dangerous weapon get lost and we don’t know who has it?” Bonney asked. 

“Just how lethal is this thing?” Law groaned, feeling a headache coming on. 

A loud pitch screech rang from outside the dining hall, making everyone jump in surprise and then a loud firing sound rang right after.

“Well,” Kid started. 

“That certainly saved a lot of time,” Sanji commented right before the group rushed out of the dining hall. 

Law had to admit he never thought he would see what was happening in front of him during the game. In his angered thoughts, yes. In reality, absolutely not. 

“Unhand me right now!” Caesar yelled, “You’re breaking the rules for this action, I hope you know!” 

On top of the hotel desk displayed a tied up, somewhat exhausted Caesar Clown. His face was pressed against the wooden desk, muffling his yelling and protesting a bit. The ropes were still in the middle of being tied by no other than Apoo who looked rather smug at the situation at hand. 

“Looks like your glorified taser worked Kid,” Apoo said, lifting a launcher of some sorts, “With this and a rough plan, we could have easily escaped long ago.” 

“Wait, what about the slime guns he has?!” Usopp yelled, looking around rapidly to see where they would come out. “I took care of those things beforehand.” Apoo grinned while Kid only gaped at the sight. 

One could easily see what he meant. There were certain parts of the wall that were covered in some sort of sticky substance to stop the slime guns from popping out from the wall. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? You attack the guy once and this killing game is over?!” Kid yelled angrily stomping forwards towards the two. 

This wasn’t sitting right with Law. 

“While you guys were being all depressed and shit, I did the liberty of saving all your asses. Even Kid didn’t want to go along with this,” Apoo laughed at them, “To be fair, this seemed like the much easier route than killing someone.” 

Before anyone could even speak another word, a loud pop rung along with a huge puff of smoke engulfed Apoo’s side of the room, covering them and even Kid and Killer couldn’t be seen. 

“What the hell!” Apoo yelled out while coughing. Killer and Kid could both be heard, coughing from the immense about smoke as well. 

“Can’t see shit in this-” Kid said with a cough. 

Law placed his shirt over his nose as the smoke rolled slowly over to them and backed away from it. 

“You brats don’t understand the simplest of rules!” Caesar yelled out from behind them. Sanji, Usopp, Bonney, and Law turned to see Caesar resting on the window right above the hotel’s huge entrance doors. He was still taking off his ropes but had an expression of fury towards them. 

“Maybe this demonstration let it finally click in,” Caesar sneered at them. 

Law could hear loud, violent coughing emitting from the smoke. Kid and Killer walked out fine but it had yet to show Apoo. Law walked forward a bit to see through the smoke, the violent coughing wasn’t coming from Killer or Kid. 

The smoke hadn’t even cleared before Law caught sight of Apoo hunched over in the smoke, walking little but little towards them. Once Apoo came into full view to everyone, Law could feel the air around them freeze for a second. 

Everyone, save for Law and Killer, let out a scream of horror at the sight of Apoo’s state. 

Blood poured directly out of Apoo’s mouth in an obscene amount. He continued to walk towards them in a sort of zombified state while everyone else backed up away. There were blisters forming all over his face and neck that only continued to grow with each passing second. 

“Holy fucking shit!” Bonney yelled, breathing in and out heavily. Usopp was shaking so bad he nearly fell backwards if not for Sanji grabbing hold of him. 

“I’ve been meaning to get this one tested but I guess this version failed too.” Caesar said in a bored tone while everyone else remained horrified at the 

Is it all planned?

Coughing, gasping for air. 

The smell of iron filled the air. 

Was that blood pouring from the eyes? 

What does he mean by failed?

How is this considered a failure?

Law snapped himself out of his rapid thoughts and turned to run out of the hotel. He needed to do something. He needed equipment, supplies, anything, but he couldn’t stand there and do _nothing_. 

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you Trafalgar,” Caesar hummed, stopping Law in his tracks. 

Law planned to only glare and continue his run back to the hospital center when Caesar said, “By the time you come back, it’ll be too late. This trial worked much too fast so he’ll be dead within five to ten minutes.” 

“Fuck is that shit in us too?!” Kid yelled, realizing he and Killer had both breathed in the same smoke as Apoo had. 

Taking another glance, Law spotted the small dart like object on the floor where the smoke had been most prominent. 

“No, he got an injection.” Law said just before Apoo dropped forward a couple of feet away, causing Bonney to scream again in horror. 

They watched silently as the pool of blood only increased slowly from the twitching body. Law didn’t realize that he was biting down on his cheek hard and his hands were beginning to shake as well. 

“Give this message to the others if you want; in this game, there’s only one way out. Any other method will not end well.” Caesar said in a dark tone, “I’ll send my machines to come clean up the mess later.”

With another puff of smoke, he disappeared, leaving the group feeling sick to their stomachs. One more than the other as Usopp threw up over to the side of the rug. 

The sight of Apoo’s body was hard to tear his eyes away from. The smell was beginning to get stuck in Law’s nose as he turned away, walking a bit closer to the shakened group. 

The hotel’s entrance opened up loudly, making everyone once again jump in surprise. It was only Carrot who was peeking in and asked, “I heard a lot of noise from the animal center. Is everything …” 

Carrot’s eyes visibly widened once she saw what was past the pale, terrified group.

“Call everyone for a meeting outside.” Law said. 

“You just left a dangerous weapon out in the open for anyone to grab?!” Nami yelled angrily. 

“For the last time, I made it to get my mind off this shitty game.” Kid yelled back, “I wasn’t going to fucking use it. Why are you getting so prissy over it anyways? Apoo didn’t even use it on us!” 

“But that’s what _could_ have happened,” Vivi spoke up, “We have to take precautions with this. Being careless here will cost a life, as it just did.” 

The group was now gathered in front of the steps of the hotel. After Sanji informed the group of what happened, everyone agreed it’d be best to not go inside to even get to the dining hall at the moment. 

“Getting upset at one another will solve nothing,” Robin said, “We understand that a mistake was made. We cannot continue to throw blame at one or another but we can learn what to avoid. First, it is increasingly obvious that no one is to attempt that sort of action again. Second, the warehouse is now to be inventoried.” 

“I have to list out everything I fucking take now?” Kid asked. 

“It is only as a precaution, I’m sure Killer will you right?” Robin asked. Killer only nodded, arms crossed. 

“Apoo died trying to take him down though,” Shirahoshi whimpered, “Was he trying to help us?” 

“I don’t think so, he made it seem like he was also prepared to kill someone to get out.” Bonney answered, still somewhat shaking, “But we can’t really be too sure now.” 

“You can’t be letting your guard down too easily,” Zoro added. 

Law was barely listening to the conversation. He was running his mind quickly through all the medical knowledge he had on poisons or viruses, anything to see what Apoo had been injected with. If he could make an antidote, just maybe they could avoid this happening the next time Caesar attacks them. 

But that wouldn’t be too helpful either, the other part of Law scolded. Caesar had said it himself that it was a test and that there were multiple versions of this poison in the works. If there’s a next time, it could be something completely different to what they just witnessed. 

What is the purpose of testing this on the students anyways? Is it convenient? Does whoever has them here only really _one_ surviving student? 

Law felt something tug his arm and he looked to see Luffy letting go but wasn’t looking at him. He also watched the conversation of them discussing the new rules that had to be set. Occasional he had interjected with his own thoughts but not too much. 

“What?” Law asked in a hushed tone. 

“You really need to get some sleep.” Luffy answered, “You’re swaying,” 

Law huffed but agreed to himself. 

He could only hope this conversation ended soon enough.

But the whole situation reminded him that anyone within them could be planning something. Everyone has their own motive and that cannot for one second be ignored. 

Not if he wants to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a bit of break but hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. I really needed to up the sense of hopelessness again so ... there goes Apoo. 
> 
> May or may not of have been inspired by a certain chapter.


	9. One Absente

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hope between the group is fading, but surely they can keep it together?

The stench of burning flesh filled Law’s nose. It was suffocating, it completely filled the air around him. A weight on his chest kept him from breathing too deeply in the first place. The sound of footsteps and shouting were muffled around him. The bodies that were beginning to decay were crushing in on him. 

But he must remain quiet.

One sound and it’s a bullet through the head. Don’t let them hear you. Don’t let them see you move an inch. Don’t breathe. 

One pair of footsteps got awfully close to where he laid. His heart pounded against his chest so hard, he feared the soldier could hear it. Closer and closer the sounds became before they stopped. The sound went quiet.

Daring to take a peak, Law opened one eye to see a barrel pointing at his head.

His eyes shot up open to see the gray ceiling, his body drawing in shakey, deep breaths. His vision began to focus as he processed that he was in the hospital center’s beds and not in any kind of danger.

No, it was just Law, Luffy’s loud snoring to the bed besides him, and his nightmares.

His lungs were still gasping for air, air that wasn’t drowned by the stench of corpses. No, it was just the clean sterilized, hospital air. Only when Law moved to bring himself to sit up did he notice the sweat that had accumulated from his sleep. 

A groan escaped his throat when he sat up. Law glanced over at Luffy to make sure he hadn’t woken him up and saw Luffy sprawled across the bed next to his own, arm hanging off, and mouth openly snoring. Taking a look at the clock above them, Law read the time as seven in the morning. 

Five hours is good enough, Law thought.

Luffy had been insistent on making sure Law actually slept this night and forced him to sit in the bed, nowhere near the medical books or desks. Luffy claimed he wouldn’t fall asleep until Law did but then proceeded to pass out five minutes later. 

Moving to the side of the bed, Law rubbed his eyes as his legs hung off the bed. His heart rate still was rather fast despite waking up from the dream. He briefly wondered why the nightmares were becoming worse when the flash of Apoo’s blood soaked body went through his mind. Law’s shoulders stiffened at the thought. 

Yawning, Law decided it’d be better to try to read some material to get his mind off it fast. Turning around, to grab the covers and fix them, Law nearly fell off the bed at what he saw. 

Luffy, as though in a horror movie, was sitting straight up in the bed, just staring directly at Law. He was still and didn’t say a word even after Law silently, but visibly, freaked out at him. 

“What the hell Mugi-” 

“Someone’s inside the hospital,” 

Law screamed mentally at this. As though those words were supposed to calm him down. “How can you even tell someone’s in here?” Law asked in a hushed voice. “I don’t know but they’re here … wait …” Luffy said, wide eyed. 

Narrowing his eyes, Law didn’t know what course of action to take. Luffy was making it sound like it was life or death at the moment which was freaking him out quite a bit. That’s when Luffy jumped up. 

“They brought food!” Luffy yelled with a grin. 

Luffy received a pillow to the face at that comment. 

“I swear to god, don’t say stuff like that!” Law yelled. 

The door opened to Zoro carrying some containers of food for the two of them. “What’s with all the yelling? It’s way too early for this,” Zoro chidded, not even being able to set the food down before Luffy yanked it from him to eat. “Really Roronoa-ya, I didn’t notice,” Law said in a tired tone before looking over at Luffy, “Make sure you don’t eat the container too,” 

Luffy motioned to laugh at Law’s comment but forgot that some of the soup was still in his mouth and proceeded to choke on it. 

“Hey not all of it is for you!” Zoro yelled, taking back some of the containers from Luffy while he was distracted. Zoro handed it to Law, “Cook wouldn’t let it down if he found out Luffy ate everything.” Law thanked him and began to start eating his share, having to slap Luffy’s hand when it got too close. 

Eventually Luffy and Zoro took their leave, saying something about trying to explore the forest area a bit more. Then around lunch time, Robin and Chopper came by to continue talking about the library in the new area with Law. 

“Don’t you want to go see the library Law?” Chopper asked. “I’ll look at it at a later time,” Law said, “Besides, Ms. Nico, you tend to be bringing all the best material over to us,” “I do my best,” she responds, not looking up from her writing. She had been writing down in a notebook for the past two days, occasionally reaching over to show Law and Chopper the other books, but never what she was writing. 

Chopper seemed to break that silence today, “Ms. Nico? What are you writing down all the time?” She gave him that same smile she always wore, “It’s what I can remember from my research. I’ll show you two when I finish writing it all down.” 

“It must be quite a bit of information, especially for the Ultimate Archaeologist,” Law commented. “There’s nothing I can’t remember,” Robin said, “Most of my time before this was spent researching. It’s a nice distraction from not being able to do any research while being here.” 

Law hummed in agreement. Any sort of distraction was good at this point. 

“By the way Trafalgar,” Robin started, “How is watching over Luffy going?” 

That kind of question wouldn’t have normally made Law paused but the expression that Robin wore on her face when she asked it made him rethink the phrasing. Quickly, he went on to answer as though he hadn’t caught the undertone. 

“He has been recovering considerably fast. Quite honestly I don’t understand how, but as long as he doesn’t reopen his wounds and sticks to his diet, he’ll be fine in a month or two.” Law somewhat managed to avoid the direct question. 

“But he certainly must be a handful sometimes correct?” she asked. Law wondered if he began to talk, how long would it take to say too much. He debated how to answer when Chopper chimed in, “Oh Law, I’m sorry! If you want to switch out watching over Luffy at night, I can do it instead.” 

Now Robin’s eyes were boring into Law’s at this. And he thought Nami was bad. 

“It’s fine Tony-ya, Mugiwara-ya will be able to go to the hotel soon anyways,” Law said. “But you’ve been looking after him for the past couple of days.” Chopper said with a bit of worry.

Law didn’t know what to say at this. He stumbled a bit trying to make another excuse. An excuse? Why is he trying to make excuses to stay with him now?

“I feel comfortable at the hospital center, so there’s really no need to worry.” Law said, finally after a bit of tripping over his words. He hoped that Chopper would leave at that because Robin’s knowing smile was becoming a bit too much for him. 

Chopper finally did let the topic go eventually. Around five, Zoro and Luffy came back barging into their quiet area of studying. Law found himself unable to focus too much on his book after that. 

“Oh Robin!” Luffy said excitedly, “The girls are asking if you want to go to the sauna today?” “Today?” Robin asked. “Yeah, Vivi suggested a girl’s night or something.” Zoro yawned, “I don’t really see why but they told us to come get you.” 

Robin simply stood from her chair at the desk before turning to Chopper and Law, “I’ll be taking my leave early then. I’ll see you two tomorrow,” Zoro ended up leaving with Robin, saying he had to go talk to Kid in the warehouse, leaving only Luffy, Law, and Chopper in the hospital center. 

“What do you do at a girl’s night?” Chopper asked Luffy. Luffy hummed, thinking deeply about it, “I don’t know. I think they peel their skin off.” “What?!” Chopper asked in a terrified voice, “Girls can’t do that! … Right Law?” The two turned to Law with wide eyed expressions for confirmation. 

“I believe you’re talking about a facial mask Mug-” 

“They do?!” Chopper and Luffy yelled out before Law could finish. “So N-N-Nami has a mask on her face?” Luffy asked in a grave tone. 

“They don’t peel off their skin,” Law said, exasperated. 

“Well then what do they do?” Luffy asked suspiciously. 

At first Law thought back to Baby 5 when they were kids, but the only thing he could come up with from her was being interested in making weapons and crying a lot. Then he realized that movies were more likely to be a better representation of girl’s nights than she was. Law realized he didn’t even watch many movies in the first place so decided to just dodge the question.

“If you’re so interested, go ask them yourself.” Law shot back. 

“Then what is a guy’s night like?” Chopper asked. Luffy suddenly beamed, “We should have a guys night at the sauna like the girls!” “You can’t go in the sauna,” Law chidded. “I can!” Luffy said back angrily so though it was a challenge. “No, Law’s right Luffy. You can’t go in because your wounds are still recovering,” Chopper said. 

Luffy grumbled and complained loudly to Chopper, asking if there was somehow a secret way around that but got nothing. 

As it got closer to ten in the night, Chopper began to take his leave. He turned to Law beforehand while Luffy was busy trying to make a tower out of their books, “Are you sure Law? I can stay if you’d like?” 

“I’ll be fine Tony-ya, besides it’s safer in the rooms for you.” Law said in a quiet voice. Chopper pursed his lips but nodded, “I’ll come back tomorrow, see ya Luffy!” “Bye Chopper!” Luffy said, just before his tower collapsed with a thud. Chopper left the room while Law began to take back some of the books from Luffy while he pouted at that. 

“How was the forest area?” Law asked, trying to get him away from the books. “It was sort of boring,” Luffy said, “Cause Zoro kept getting lost. He doesn’t know where anything is at!” “I don’t think you know where anything is at either,” Law said, raising an eyebrow. 

They bickered a bit, back and forth before it hit ten. Law found that Luffy had become uncharacteristically quiet and was staring out the only window in the room for a bit. 

“Torao,” Luffy said suddenly, “I can’t stop thinking about him,” 

Law closed his book, giving his full attention to Luffy, who still had his eyes trained to the window. 

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

“I know … but will the nightmares go away?” 

“Eventually, they will,” 

“They haven’t for you.” 

That stumped him a bit. Law held his surprise in Luffy noticing his own nightmares but that’s not what completely stopped him. He thought of what response he should give to that. The excuse or the truth. He picked the latter. 

“Loss will affect you for the rest of your life. There’s no shame in it. Also, please cry if you need to cry.” Law said. 

Luffy was doing his best to hide it behind his straw hat but the shaky breaths and slightly twitches gave it away too easily. Law got up and sat himself to Luffy who tried to talk more but couldn’t very well through the sobs. 

“Everytime I remember him … I wanna start crying all over again. In the forest, there were so many times. Yesterday too,” Luffy explained. “If you don’t want to go outside you don’t have to.” Law said simply. “But I want too … but I don’t … what about you?” Luffy asked suddenly. 

The unsaid question hung in the air between them;  _ Haven’t you lost someone too? _

“Yes,” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” Luffy smiles at him while rubbing the tears out of his eyes. 

“With your poker face, I doubt it.” Law smirked then back to his frown, “There will be times in the future when the same thing happens. One second you're going through life and the memories-”

“Come back,” Luffy finished, then continued quitely, “Yeah … I lost my other brother years before. His name was Sabo. But it’s … different with Ace.” “That’s normal too,” Law said, “It doesn’t mean you loved them any more or less than the other of course. It’s just what happens when you’ve experienced loss again.” 

Luffy gave him a look.

“I don’t think I need to explain myself for that.” Law answered simply. 

Luffy still sniffled a bit, trying to get his nose to stop running when Law got an idea.

“Do you wanna go sneak ice cream from the freezer?” 

Luffy gaped at him, then as if realizing he didn’t want to let this opportunity slip immediately said, “Yes!” “Sanji-ya must be in his room by now, but you can’t have a lot!” Law snapped. Luffy laughed, dragging Law by the arm out the room as fast as possible. 

Even if it was small, Luffy wasn’t going to miss out on Law letting him break the diet rules just a bit. 

“A guy’s night?” Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow at Usopp. 

The group sat at the dining hall table for lunch the next day. Law was on the lookout to see if Sanji would notice the bit of ice cream that left the freezer from the night before. The night before, Law felt like the two really were going to get in trouble if they got caught walking around the kitchen thanks to the blonde’s protectiveness over his kitchen. Luckily, he either hasn’t noticed or hasn’t said anything about it. 

“The girls have been hogging the sauna for days now, so I’m all for it.” Kid complained, stabbing into his food. 

Law glared over at Luffy, “Don’t even think about it.” 

“This is umm … tr- … tyra- … Tiffany!” 

“Tyranny,” Law corrected. 

“Tyranny!” 

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration Luffy,” Sanji said coming over from the kitchen, “Any other person wouldn’t be even moving right now with your wounds.” 

“Not me, I would be back to normal in a week tops.” Kid said smugly. Luffy took that one as a challenge before Law could even glare at Kid, “I can beat at anything right now if I wanted!” “Even without the wounds, you still can’t keep up,” Kid laughed. 

“Keep up with what?!” Usopp asked. 

“In any case,” Killer started, “We can meet at the sauna around six.” Law silently thanked Killer for changing the subject before the two meatheads went at each other’s throats. 

“Oh I can tell the other girls for you if ya want,” Bonney said, just coming into the dining hall, “That place really is a good way to relax.” “I didn’t even get to look at the inside cause you guys,” Usopp complained while Zoro nodded in agreement. Bonney only grinned at this, “Sucks if ya ain’t there first. But tonight it should be open,” 

“That’s if the Marimo can even find his way to the damn place,” Sanji commented. Zoro whipped around to defend himself. 

“”Roronoa-ya, have you ever heard of Agnosia?” Law asked. 

Zoro turned back to him, “Ha?” 

“Topographical Disorientation is a kind of Agnosia, which is a brain disorder that can include the inability to process or recognize objects, faces, voices, or in this case, geographical information.” 

Law only got blank stares by everyone sitting at the table. 

It took a second before Bonney and Sanji laughed and had to try to stifle it with their hands. Zoro looked too confused to retort while Kid whispered over to Killer to see if he caught anything Law said. 

_ I hate it here _ , Law thought bitterly to himself. 

“Law! I found an article in the library right now on that disease you were talking about,” Chopper said, running into the dinning hall with some papers in his hands. “We can look them over at the hospital center,” Law said, getting up from his seat and thanked Sanji for the food. 

While Law and Chopper began to walk out the room, somewhat comparing the notes to each other, Sanji called out, “Did anyone open one of the ice cream buckets?!” 

Luffy immediately got up and yelled for Law to wait for him, while stuffing some of the jello he still had into his mouth. 

The three of them met up with Robin at the hospital center. While Luffy spent most of the time bored and distracting Chopper, Law and Robin continued sharing notes with one another over older medical practices. Luffy would occasionally look over at it to ask questions. 

“That looks like torture,” Luffy commented. 

“Back in those times, medical practice and torture went hand in hand.” Robin said, calmly. 

“I’m so glad we have anesthesia,” Chopper said with a grimace. 

Law caught a glimpse of the time on the wall, well past eight. “Chopper, are you not going to the sauna with the others?” 

“I was thinking about it but I’m not sure.” Chopper said. Luffy pouted at this, “I still wanna go to the sauna.” 

“I should be heading back to the hotel right now,” Robin said, gathering her things. “Oh, I’ll go with you,” Chopper said, getting his stuff as well. He slipped the books he had into the one of the little pouches Robin and Chopper had found in the library. 

“It’s not too late to go,” Robin remarked. “I’ll decide on the way,” Chopper said with a smile. 

“See ya!” Luffy called out while Law waved them goodbye. They left the hospital center with only Law and Luffy sitting around. 

“Can you tell me who Corasan is?” Luffy asked. Law paused, “Since when-” “You said it in your sleep a lot.” Luffy said with a grin. 

“He’s my adoptive father,” Law said, “And it’s Cora-san, a play on his name Corazon.” “Ohhh, you don’t call him dad?” Luffy asked. “I did once and he wouldn’t let it go for the entire  _ month _ .” Law said grimacing. That memory embarrassed him to no end and occasionally Cora-san would still bring it up. 

“I think Dadan would get mad at me if I said that to her,” Luffy laughed. Law gave a questioning look to Luffy, slightly concerned if he should ask a question about Luffy’s family or not. 

“Oh, Dadan is one of the mountain bandits who raised me,” Luffy explained. 

_ You are in no position to judge this _ , Law scolded himself. 

“Mountain bandits huh?” 

“Yeah, Gramps got upset that I was hanging around a criminal and he sent me and Ace there with Dadan.” Luffy said simply. 

“So the punishment for you hanging around a criminal was to put you in a house with another criminal?” Law asked. 

“Yep, and Dadan was the leader of them. Apparently she owed Gramps a favor or something. Ace, Sabo, and I didn’t mind though. It was fun being able to do whatever and hunt in the woods,” Luffy explained. 

“Your Gramps sounds like a … very responsible figure,” 

Luffy laughed, “He’s scary! His punches hurt a lot and it was always because I said I didn’t want to join the military.” 

“How old were you?” 

“Seven?” 

“Sounds like my grandfather …” 

“Really?! What did yours do when you refused?” Luffy asked. 

“Be disappointed. Eventually he let up because becoming a surgeon was suitable ‘enough,’” 

“At least yours didn’t get mad at your ultimate talent,” Luffy groaned, “Gramps said ‘What kind of career in the military are you going to get with that?!’ And then punched with his ‘Fists of Love,’”

Law prayed that his and Luffy’s grandfather never meet. Last thing he needed was to know what exactly a ‘Fist of Love’ was. 

“Can we sneak some more ice cream from Sanji?” Luffy asked, pressing his hands together at Law. 

“I literally had to tear that thing out of your hands last night,” Law glared at him, “Not to mention, I saw you run out of the dinning hall the moment Sanji-ya mentioned it. You really believe he will let us get away with it a second time?” 

“Where’s the fun without the risk?” Luffy grinned at him. 

“There’s nothing fun about getting yelled at by Sanji-ya. And I allowed the ice cream just one time, do not make me extend your diet treatment for that.” 

“Now that has to be tyranny!” 

“Do you even know what that means?” 

“... Yes?” 

“Either way, yes, I am abusing my power here. No ice cream,” Law smirked.

Even after that last statement, Luffy continued to bug Law for most of the night about it until he finally fell asleep. Law going to sleep not long after. 

“I’m telling you now, it’s sure as hell is July,” 

“No, it’s October!” 

“July!” 

“October!” 

“Why is this even a conversation?” Law groaned into hands. 

“Because I refuse to believe that we just knocked out at the beginning of all of this bullshit. A couple of months must have already passed by,” Bonney explained, “Therefore it’s July right now!” 

“No, because it’s been longer than a couple of months, it’s October!” Luffy exclaimed. 

“You two are both forgetting that as a group, we couldn’t have all possibly lost our memories at the same time right?” Law asked, “That’s, medically speaking, not a very likely outcome of months just passed without anyone noticing,” 

“Okay so his bet is April,” Bonney said. 

“Torao no! It has to be October,” Luffy said. 

“Where are you two even getting these months from?” Law asked, “Last time I checked, we’re stuck in a gigantic bio-dome! There’s nothing to go off of,” 

“Yes, there is.” Luffy said with full conviction, “Your gut,” 

“We should start a betting pool.” Bonney suggested, “Then at the end ask Caesar to give that information up to see who’s right.” 

“Speaking of gambling,” Law said, “A lot of it does have to do with your gut I guess. So my bets on October as well.” 

“Yes! We’re winning!” Luffy yelled. 

“That’s not how gambling works,” Bonney chidded before stopping to look over her shoulder, “This is weird. I think this one of the few times Sanji  _ hasn’t _ been in the kitchen.” 

They were seated at one of the dining hall’s tables, rather early for lunch time, waiting on Sanji to get back. Law and Bonney had to hold Luffy back from ‘checking’ the fridge for leftover food that sanji could have left. 

“To be fair, we shouldn’t expect him to cook every meal for us,” Law said. “But the guy insists  _ and _ his food is some of the best I’ve ever eaten. Definitely deserves that Ultimate title,” Bonney said before quickly adding, “Don’t tell him I said that.” 

“His food is the best!” Luffy agreed, “I just wish he actually was here. Torao, do you know where he is?” “I’ve literally been with you the entire day. If you don’t know, how would I?” Law asked. Luffy’s cheeks puffed up at this but couldn’t think up anything. 

“Oh shit, I was gonna ask about the guy’s night but you two didn’t go huh?” Bonney asked. At that, Luffy turned to throw a glare at Law, who sighed, 

“I don’t know what makes you think it’s fine to be in the water with your injuries. It would- … wait, did you take your medication this morning?” 

That caused Luffy to jump and yell, “I did!” 

“He takes meds?” Bonney asked, taking a sip of her juice, “Like prescribed and everything?” “It’s pain medication, otherwise he’d be hurting like hell,” Law answered. “You’re accusing me that I didn’t though!” Luffy said, pointing at Law. “I was only-” 

“Trafalgar,” Robin called out from the entrance of the dinning hall. The three stopped their conversation to look over. “Ms. Nico, do you need something?” Law asked. 

“I was wondering if you had seen Chopper this morning at the hospital center?” she asked. “No, I didn’t see him this morning,” Law said. “I think he’s still in his room,” Bonney said, “I didn’t see him come down for breakfast, but I could have missed him.” 

“Sanji’s not here yet, so we’ll go with you!” Luffy volunteered, lifting Law’s arm up as well. “Who’s this ‘we’?!” Law shot back. “Have fuuuun,” Bonney said, before taking another drink from her juice. 

Law found himself following Robin and Luffy up the elevator to the guy’s level. “Sanji would probably be able to know who came down. He does get up rather early,” Law said. 

“Doesn’t Carrot also get up early?” Luffy asked, “For the animals and stuff,” 

“I woke up this morning by Carrot to help her out, we didn’t see him,” Robin stated. 

“I’m sure he’s probably with Zoro if not in his room,” Law said, “But that’s going to be an ordeal all on it’s own …” Luffy laughed at that, “Chopper could get them back to the hotel if he tries hard enough,” 

Reaching Chopper’s room, Robin knocked on the door to no response. Robin tried again but much louder this time. Luffy went ahead and called, “Chopper! You in there?” No response came from the door. 

Luffy moved to try and open the door when Law said, “Have you ever heard of privacy? Don’t try and open it.” “It doesn’t hurt to try!” Luffy defended. 

“Don’t these things lock automatically?” Law asked Robin. “At night, not during the day. You can lock it in the day from the otherside or with your handbook,” 

“Well it’s open,” Luffy said after pushing it open. 

“What did I just say?” Law scolded. 

The door opened wide, showing no one resided in the room. It was identical to Law’s own room, except there were slightly less books on the desk in the room. But there was his pouch resting on the chair. 

“Well, he did come back,” Law said, “Did he go to the sauna last night? Maybe one of the guys knows,” “Yes, he left shortly after and I came back to the hotel.” Robin explained but Law could see the worry that was beginning to seep into her voice. 

“Don’t worry, we can go around asking!” Luffy said encouragingly. 

“Asking what?” Kid said from the end of the hall, closing the door to his own room. “Did you guys see Chopper after the sauna last night?” Law asked. 

“Chopper? That kid never came to the sauna last night,” Kid said, eyebrows furrowed. “But Chopper left for the sauna last night?” Luffy said in a questioning tone. “Anyone who was already there at the sauna, stayed there,” Kid said, “Ask anyone else, Chopper didn’t show up,” 

“Lies!” Luffy claimed. 

“How would you even know?!” Kid yelled back. 

“I thought these walls were supposed to be  _ somewhat _ sound proof,” Zoro said, exiting his own room, “You two have proven that assumption wrong,” 

“Zoro, was Chopper at the sauna last night?” Luffy asked while Kid looked offended. “What’s wrong with my word?!”

“No, Chopper wasn’t there. We all left together last night too,” Zoro said with a yawn. 

“See?!” Kid yelled. 

“But Robin said Chopper left for the sauna last night!” Luffy exclaimed. 

“It’s fine Luffy,” Robin started. 

“That still doesn’t explain where he is right now,” Law said. 

“We can just see at lunch right now if anyone else has seen him today. It hasn’t even been half a day,” Zoro said. “Whoa, you're actually right Zoro,” Luffy said, surprised. 

“What is that supposed to mean?!” 

The group of five went back down the elevator to the first floor. Entering in the dining hall, not everyone was seated yet but Sanji was in fact back with some of the foods growing in the garden. The only other people were Killer, Usopp, Nami, Vivi, and Bonney. 

“Was he in his room?” Bonney asked as Law took his seat next to her. “No, Chopper didn’t even go to the sauna with the guys last night,” Luffy answered ahead of Law who nodded at this. “Have you asked anyone else?” Law asked. 

“No, I assumed he was gonna be there,” Bonney said, taking a bite out of the pasta that Sanji had already finished preparing, “Was he not there?” 

“Who wasn’t there?” Usopp asked. “Chopper,” Luffy said, “We don’t know where Chopper is. And he’s not lost with Zoro so…” 

“Oi,”

“Wait Chopper’s missing?” Shirahoshi asked in a shrill voice. She and Carrot were walking into the dining hall. “Should we start a search party?” Carrot asked a bit louder than Law thought necessary.

“Hold on, hold on,” Nami started, “We don’t know if he’s for sure lost yet. We should ask everyone … oh umm, we can ask Hancock when she gets here?” 

Law too was taken by surprise at the missing member from their group. Their group did seem … smaller than before, making them think that more people were needed to be accounted for when there wasn’t. 

“Okay does anyone know where Hancock is?” Bonney asked. “She was at the garden with me not too long ago,” Sanji said, “She should be here soon, I’ll keep serving lunch until then I guess.” 

It only took around five minutes before Hancock showed up in the middle of everyone eating their lunch. The beginning had been slightly tense with no sign of Chopper by her side as she walked over to the table with fresh vegetables in her basket. 

“Hey umm, Hancock?” Bonney spoke first. “I wasn’t aware of a lunch gathering today,” Hancock said, somewhat apologetically. 

“Oh this sort of just happened,” Bonney responded, “But have you seen Chopper today?” Hancock thought for a moment, “No,” 

“Oh my god!” Shirahoshi said, freaking out. 

Her outburst got everyone speaking at once, yelling over each other trying to be heard. 

“We can’t jump to conclusions,” Vivi started. 

“But no one’s seen him since last night!” Zoro said. 

“You didn’t see him go back to the hotel right?’ Kid asked Robin. 

“No, he went to the sauna last night,” Ms. Nico said hesitantly. 

“He never appeared at the sauna though,” Killer said. 

“He’s not in his room?” Sanji asked. 

“We just checked it,” Luffy answered, eyebrows furrowed. 

“So no one’s seen him since last night…” Usopp said while everyone fell silent. 

“That’s it,” Nami said, getting up from her seat, “We need to split up and look for him. Vivi’s right, we can’t jump to conclusions so we’ll do our best after lunch to find him, got it?!” 

Everyone hesitantly nodded but ignored the lingering thought that Chopper might be their next trial. 

Law didn’t know how he ended up here. 

Shirahoshi wouldn’t look him directly in the eyes as the two walked down the hotel’s hallway. Every glance he made towards her, caused her to tense up and yelp quietly. 

That was a lie. 

He did know how he ended up with Shirahoshi in a pair. 

It started right after lunch when the group began to split into pairs for their search for Chopper. 

The original pairs were … slightly disrupted from last time. Some were easier, Nami and Vivi, Killer and Kid were obvious ones. 

Vivi and Nami were already discussing where they searched first. “The forest is a good place to start,” Vivi declared, “It’s much easier to get lost in there than anywhere else,” Nami, Kid, and Killer seem to agree. 

Law at first thought he would be back with Zoro as a partner, only to see him busy arguing with Sanji. 

“You're going to get lost the entire time. I don’t know how you managed last time,” Sanji snapped at him. 

“It was not that bad!” Zoro defended and seemed to be tethering on some sort of question. 

“Luffy!” Hancock said, coming right next to him, “Do you want too-” 

“Come on Luffy! We’ll show them,” Zoro decided, grabbing Luffy’s arm, dragging him along. Law took note of Zoro staring at Usopp angrily who was partnered with Sanji at the moment. 

Hancock slumped at this loss. 

Meanwhile Bonney watched over Robin, who had her arms crossed and was awfully fidgety. Robin remained much more quieter and reserved than usual since their discussion at lunch. 

Bonney sighed, “I’ll go with you Ms. Nico, come on.” Ms. Nico only nodded in response before following. 

Hancock meanwhile took one look at who was left, immediately grabbed hold of Carrot’s arm, saying, “Come on Carrot! We can go search with Luffy’s group,” Carrot happily agreed, following her out the hotel’s doors. 

All the while, Shirahoshi raised her hand hesitantly, as though trying to stop them and stumbled over her words as the two got out of earshot. She shrunk in on herself and slowly looked over to Law who was the only left in the dining hall. 

So there the two were, Shirahoshi following behind like a mouse would as the two explored the hotel’s many floors. 

Law gave a brief reason to her for exploring the hotel, everyone else was outside the building but there was the possibility that Chopper came back to the hotel and could just be in the lounge area. She didn’t even meet his eyes when he talked, instead staring down at the floor nervously.

Law briefly wondered as they walked, if she was more nervous because it wasn’t a group setting … or it was his appearance. 

The lounge area had no one inside. The areas of where the slime that attacked Law and Luffy earlier were completely clean and repaired as though it hadn’t happened in the first place. After that was a bust, the two worked their way through the many floors starting from the fifth, upwards. 

They worked silently together, going through all the rooms with little to no trace of anyone even entering the rooms beforehand. Most of the hardwood surfaces were even dusty and looked untouched. The silence didn’t bother Law, but he did notice Shirahoshi remain fidgety most of the time either way. 

At one point, once they had made it to the eighth floor after a good amount of time, Shirahoshi opened her mouth to say something. It happened to be at the same time, Law had glanced over at her, making her shut her mouth immediately. 

If you’re going to say something, please just say it, Law thought to himself, turning away from her. 

“Umm … I …” Shirahoshi said as they stood in front of the door to the next room, “I want to say …” 

Law’s thought conflicted over whether he should look over to her or not. One hand, she’ll immediately stop talking, making her take even longer. One the other, she may not even ask because he  _ isn’t _ paying attention to her. 

Begrudgingly, he turned to face her with a blank expression. 

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything,” she stated quickly, “But I just have trouble meeting new people … It’s not your appearance or … not that there’s something wrong with your appearance! I don’t really go out in general so … I just don’t really know what to say …” 

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Law responded, opening the door and going inside. 

“Oh … okay,” Shirahoshi said, following after him. 

It took two rooms before Shirahoshi found the courage to try and give another conversation a go. 

“Are you worried?’ Shirahoshi asked, as she stood in one of the empty bathrooms. 

“A bit, we can’t be for sure what happened yet though.” Law answered. “Do you … do you think he might be …” Shirahoshi stopped completely as though afraid of even her own words. 

“For right now we can only search, it doesn’t matter what we think could have happened,” Law said. 

He honestly had been trying to detach himself from the situation, he didn’t like the idea of Chopper being … gone. He had spent the last couple of days being able to get to know him and actually have an interest in medicine. Not just studying it only for the job. 

“You’re right,” Shirahoshi said, shifting her feet. 

Silence fell between them but Law could feel her eyes directly on his back as he looked under the bed. Law remembered something Shirahoshi said that caught his attention earlier. 

“You don’t go out very much?” Law asked, as they moved on to the next room. 

“Oh no, I don’t,” Shirahoshi replied almost instantly. She glowed at him continuing the conversation with her, though it was a big accomplishment. “Back home, I wasn’t really allowed outside. Unless I was with my brothers or many, many guards.” 

“That would be reasonable for a princess, would it not?” Law asked. “Yes well …” she paused, “I guess it doesn’t matter too much since we’re stuck here. But my palace kept receiving letters from a dangerous man asking for my hand in marriage.” 

Law let her continue by giving her his full attention, feeling that there was much more to the story. 

“And well, since I refused he would send death threats as well. I couldn’t attend competitions anymore with other swimmers so I had to be timed separately from everyone else as well.” she said with downcast eyes before brightening, “Luckily my older brothers were able to help convince my father to let me come to school outside of home but … well …” 

“I’m sure they just wanted you to be safe and be able to do normal activities outside,” Law said, “If I remember correctly, one of them is the heir right?” 

Shirahoshi nodded eagerly, “Yes, Fukaboshi is. Then it’s Ryuboshi and Manboshi. I love and miss them a lot. They didn’t agree with me leaving at first but tried to help me anyways to be able to get out of the castle whenever they could.” 

Shirahoshi held an expression of longing and a small smile rested on her smile. Then it changed to realization as she said quickly, “I’m sorry, I must be talking a lot about myself. I don’t mean to come off as conceited or anything like that.” 

“I don’t mind, you can talk about whatever you’d like,” Law said, smiling slightly at her. He appreciated hearing her and her brothers. It was a nice distraction for the rest of their time searching for Chopper through the many rooms of the hotel. 

The two stopped only when the sky began to darken a considerable amount. It was at that point that Law and Shirahoshi realized how the group hadn’t assigned a time or place to meet if they  _ hadn’t _ found Chopper. 

They took it upon themselves to go down elevator at nine and arrive at the dining hall. Law and Shirahoshi actually ended up being the last ones in the dining room as everyone else was already situated around the table and talking. 

“Torao! Yuwahoshi!” Luffy called out, turning everyone’s attention away from the table discussion. 

“I’m assuming you two didn’t find Chopper either?” Sanji asked from where he was seated. Shirahoshi and Law shook their heads in response. 

“This is getting fucking ridiclous. Trafalgar, did you two check the actual dorms?” Kid asked. Law raised an eyebrow at this, “We didn’t. Just what exactly are you insinuating?” 

“It’s possible someone’s hiding him in their dorms and that’s why we can’t fucking find him,” Kid replied. 

“Oi! You’re talking about him as though he’s already dead!” Bonney yelled, slamming her hands on the table. 

“It’s been an entire day! You can’t possibly tell me we wouldn’t have run into him by now!” Kid yelled back, “This place is big, but not  _ that _ big!” That’s when Kid turned his attention to Robin, “She’s the most suspicious out of all us, we should check her room first.” 

“Robin doesn’t have to do anything!” Luffy sat up, defending her, “She told the truth! Chopper went to the sauna and that’s it!” 

“Did you see him go or even say he was going?” Kid snapped back. 

“No, but she’s not lying!” Luffy exclaimed. 

Law groaned inwardly to himself. He knew Luffy was right, at least he was very sure Luffy was right. It did look to him that Robin was telling the complete truth but his and Luffy’s statements were only based on intuition, and no definitive evidence to back it up. 

The rest seemed to agree with that as well, looking warily over to Robin who had remained quiet. 

“It’s alright Luffy, you all are welcome to search my room.” Robin stated calmly. 

“It seems rather soon for that though,” Nami started. 

“We should save this for tomorrow,” Sanji said, “We can talk more about what we can do then, right now it’s getting too close to ten,” 

Everyone agreed begrudgingly, a lot feeling as though there was more that could be done. But Sanji was right, they would have to wait until the morning to search more. 

Luffy met up with Law at the entrance as the two said their goodnights to everyone else, leaving the hotel. They walked tense silence on their way to the hospital center, Law could see the worry spread all across Luffy’s face with his deep frown and glances at the ground. 

“Mugiwara-ya,”

“Yeah?” Luffy asked, not looking at him. 

“If you wish, I could be able to fix up your chest a bit more. Add some skin on to your chest to better help the scar heal cleanly.” Law said before he said the pat he was most nervous about, “But … with any surgery there is a risk of course,” 

Luffy looked at him blankly, Law couldn’t read his eyes for once. 

It worried him. 

“Do I have to get the surgery?” 

Law swallowed hard at this, “No, you don’t,” 

“Okay …” Luffy said, taking a pause, “If there’s anyone I’d trust to cut me open, it’s you.” 

Thank you? Law thought to himself, a bit taken back by his bluntness. 

“But … I don’t really feel comfortable with covering the scar.” 

“I understand,” Law said simply, “The offer stands if you ever change your mind. But knowing you, that’s highly unlikely,” 

Luffy laughed, “You’ve got that right. Maybe tomorrow we can search for Chopper together? How was it with Shirahoshi? You should have seen Zoro trying to scale the tree earlier today!” 

Luffy continued his rambles about the day, well after their arrival at the hospital center until they took to bed. 

Both unknowingly unprepared for the day that laid ahead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the new year, hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Chapter updates every two weeks now


	10. Medic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group continue their search for Chopper, not very pleased with what they find.

Law shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. 

God damn it, why were his hopes up in the first place? 

Law refused to look over at Hancock who was dragging Luffy away to the forest on their search as soon as breakfast ended and Nami finished giving out their resting and meet up times (Incase they were unable to find Chopper again). 

_ It’s not jealousy, _ Law told himself,  _ it’s just Boa-ya being annoying. Yup, that’s it. Why the hell is Eustass-ya walking up to me?  _

“Don’t have a partner?” Kid asked, attempting his best to be causal. 

_ Shirahoshi-ya come back _ , Law thought as he watched Shirahoshi give him an innocent smile and a wave before leaving to pair up with Carrot. 

“No,” Law said, a bit forcefully. 

“Cool, I don’t either,” Kid said, looking to the side. 

Law could see the train wreck happening behind Kid very clearly. 

Sanji and Zoro busied themselves by arguing about the right amount of beer someone should (or could?) drink while Killer went ahead and asked Usopp to come with him. It was a bit too late for Sanji, when he realized his partner had gone off without him and was now stuck with Zoro as a result. Zoro didn’t look the least bit as upset as he claimed to be while Sanji stormed ahead and he followed behind. 

Looking back at Kid, Law didn’t need time to think of what was happening. 

Law sighed,  _ He’s trying I guess. The faster we go, the faster it’ll be over. _

“Where do you want to go first?” Kid asked. 

“The hotel floors were a bit of a bust yesterday.” Law commented, “Shirahoshi and Carrot are going to explore it anyways so we might as well, help out in the forest area.” 

“Alright,” Kid shrugged. 

The morning search brought up nothing useful. They ran into a few of the others in the forest but it became apparent that most were checking the other buildings like the warehouse, animal center, and hospital as a precaution. Kid failed to get that much of a conversation rolling with Law most of the time, who was busy looking for signs in the dirt. 

“Why are you looking at the dirt so much?” Kid asked. 

“It’s possible someone could have buried him,” Law said, bluntly, “Of course that’s not for certain but it’s a possibility.” 

“Oh,” Kid said. 

Law grew irritated at this reaction. Wasn’t he the same one saying yesterday that Chopper was most likely dead? While Law had to admit, he had been thinking the same thing, but voicing that thought in front of everyone is a whole other kind of bluntness.

They walked out of the forest, Law checking his handbook for the time. Law could see that it was already getting close to the lunch time they agreed on. The two walked along the dirt path, vaguely hearing the voices of others inside talking. 

“We should probably check one more place before heading back,” Law said. Kid suddenly grinned, “You haven’t been to the sauna yet huh?” 

Law looked up from his handbook, seeing that they were coming upon the sauna house. At the front were Vivi and Nami walking towards it. 

“No, I haven’t,” Law answered, thinking back to Luffy begging him to be able to go. 

“Maybe later we can-” 

“Are you okay Vivi?” Nami could hear asking in the distance. “Yeah,” Vivi said, rolling her shoulders a bit. 

“Well, we can search the sauna right now,” Nami said, readying her handbook to the scanner. “Oh but Trafalgar-san hasn’t seen it yet. We should let them go ahead inside,” Vivi suggested towards them with a smile. 

_ Nefertari-ya, do  _ not _ do this to me.  _

“Yeah that’d be great,” Kid said, throwing a grin towards Law. 

_ Fuck, come up with something! _ Law thought frantically. 

“Oh, we can head inside too!” Sanji said, coming out from the forest area, partially dragging Zoro behind him. Zoro looked like he was trying to walk in the direct opposite direction of Sanji, before subtlety turning himself around. 

Out in the corner of his eye, Law spotted it. 

“Actually, I was thinking of checking out the library first.” Law said with a deadpan tone. He turned to Sanji and Zoro, “You guys can go I guess,” 

Law quickly started walking off before Kid could say anything in protest and had no choice but to follow after him. Zoro and Sanji meanwhile started to fight over if they should let Nami and Vivi go ahead or if they would go first. 

“Have something against saunas?” Kid asked. 

“No, I’ve just heard a good amount about the library from Ms. Nico,” Law shrugged. 

“Think you could give me a recommendation?” Kid asked. 

Law bit back the insult that popped his head. 

“I wouldn’t know what to recommend. I haven’t seen what’s in the library,” Law said, montoned. 

“Oh … right,” Kid said, turning to hide his red face. 

The structure of the library gave Law a very Victorian feel. It could be mistaken for a mansion if looked at differently. Law was making his way up the steps when he heard something. 

“Oh Torao!” Luffy yelled, running down the dirt path, opposite to the direction they came from. Law could spot Hancock following closely behind him, despite the heels. 

“Are you going to the library?” Luffy asked. “Yes, it’ll be the last thing before we head to lunch.” Law said. “Hey Hancock, we can explore together inside! Come on!” Luffy said, going up next to Law as he opened the large doors to the library. 

There was somewhat of a relief that Law felt when he saw Luffy. Not so much when he saw Hancock throw a quick glare towards him before happily agreeing with Luffy. There was also the annoyed expression that Kid wore but Law could have cared less about that. 

Inside the library was massive. A second floor, rows upon rows of books and different sections. Each labeled to their specific genre. The only issue Law had was the random stacks that appeared randomly around. Although that made it come across that there were too many books to hold even in such a gigantic selection. 

“It smells sort of weird,” Luffy said, after picking up one of the books. “It is a rather old library,” Law said under his breath. 

Law let himself wander around, finding that Luffy followed close behind which then caused Hancock and Kid to follow them as well. 

_ Weren’t we supposed to be split up? _ Law asked himself. He began to lose sight of their original goal, finding titles that interested him. 

Law saw Kid trying to at least attempt to look interested in the books. Picking one casually before setting it down for another and then repeating the process. Hancock busied herself by sneaking glances at Luffy then her cheeks would turn pink before going back to glaring at Law. Luffy meanwhile looked like he was trying to figure out how a book worked. 

“Torao, this book is upside down.” Luffy said, staring hard at it. 

Law looked over at the page, thinking he was going to have to flip it for him. 

“This is fucking Russian,” 

Kid laughed loudly at this, even clutching at his stomach while Luffy glared at him. Law noticed Luffy’s ears were slightly pink despite his expression. 

Hancock appeared just as furious. She pointed at Kid as she yelled, “As though you have the right to laugh at him! How dare you!” Kid only turned to her, appearing downright annoyed by her scolding and snapped back at her. 

Seeing this an opportunity, Law moved silently through the other rows, getting farther and farther away from the loud group. He thought he was in the clear when he heard a book drop behind him. Luffy had been following close behind him and tried to subtlety kick the book behind one of the piles of books. 

“I didn’t know that was Russian,” Luffy pouted. 

Law remained surprised at the sight of Luffy looking … embarrassed? He always thought Luffy had no shame when it came to doing … Well, anything. 

“I don’t know why Eustass-ya was laughing,” Law commented, “He would have done the exact same thing.” 

Luffy’s face broke into a grin, “Yeah, I-” Luffy paused, eyebrows furrowing, “Umm, Torao? It smells really weird here.” 

“It’s an old library Mugiwara-ya,” 

“No, it’s not just that. It’s this area,” Luffy said quickly. 

The two were back near where they had started, near the entrance to the library. The group had originally gone towards the left but Luffy and Law were now heading back towards the right side of the library. 

“The right side?” Law asked. 

“Yeah, but I don’t know where,” Luffy said, moving closer and closer to the other side, as though following his nose. Law followed behind Luffy, looking out for anything suspicious around them along the way. 

“Hey there you are Luffy!” Hancock said, running up to the two with a semi-annoyed Kid behind her. “You guys really just left your pairs,” Kid pointed out before looking at Luffy then Law, “What the hell is he doing?” 

“It smells off here!” Luffy claimed, “I don’t know what it is though,” 

Law was prepared for Kid to make fun of Luffy again when he changed his tune. Kid attempted to sniff too before wrinkling his nose, “Shit you’re right, it does smell weird.” 

Hancock and Law both remained confused, not being able to smell anything strange in the air like the other two were claiming. What are these guys? Bloodhounds? Law thought to himself as they made their way farther and farther to the right side. 

“It’s here!” Luffy exclaimed, stopping them right in front of the broken elevator. The elevator had caution tape wrapped in front of it with an ‘out of order’ sign planted on it. 

“No it’s not, it’s somewhere else,” Kid snapped. “No, it’s right here!” Luffy said challengingly before stopping, “It actually could be on the second floor but it’s still inside the elevator!” 

Law lifted his head up and moved himself to see the second floor elevator. There was no tape on that door but still had the same ‘out of order’ sign. 

“There’s not much we can do about it.” Law said, “It’s out of order, but the do-” 

Law stopped when Kid threw him a grin and proceeded to try to pry open the elevator doors through brute force. Luffy perked up at this and began to try the same thing on the other side when Kid started to argue that he could open it by himself. 

“I can open it by myself too!” 

“Sit this one out scrawny,” 

“You sit this one out Jaggy!” 

“I was here first!” 

“Well I found it first!”

“You can do it Luffy!” Hancock interjected with stars in her eyes, “I believe in you!”

A loud sigh escaped from Law, “-doors probably work fine,” 

Eventually they ended up, unintentionally, working together with Luffy holding on to the right door and Kid holding on to the left door. The empty, dark shaft and the wires running down it, informed the group that the elevator was in fact on a different floor. 

“I don’t see anything,” Hancock said, “Maybe we can try the other floor?” 

Kid and Luffy couldn’t get that good of a look, given they were holding the door open. Luffy hummed and began to stick his head past the door into the shaft looking up and around. Law immediately shouted at him, “Don’t do that!” 

Luffy took his head out and seemed annoyed, “It’s not-” 

A loud creak and snap from above made everyone jump. Kid and Luffy both immediately let go of the door in surprise. The doors closed as the sound of the elevator car falling down whipped past them and ended with a massive  _ boom _ at the bottom. 

The four stood frozen in place, staring at the closed door. 

“Well … that’s not coming back up,” Kid said. 

Just as he finished saying that another loud snap and clank of metal sounded from the top before also coming down to the bottom with a crash. 

“Umm …” Hancock said with wide eyes. Her face had gone the palest Law had ever seen it and her body trembled slightly as she continued to look dead center at the door, “Did anyone else see … did anyone else see the inside?” 

The three guys looked at each other with a confused glance. Luffy and Kid hadn’t caught sight of it because they were on the side and Law had been busy looking at Luffy for his previous stunt that almost got him killed. 

“What did you see?” Luffy asked. “I’m not too sure,” Hancock answered, a bit shaky.

“Well this time we can just use this,” Law pressed the button on the side and the doors opened easily while Kid’s and Luffy’s expressions morphed into shock.

“Why did no one try that before?” Kid asked. 

“I told both of you the doors worked!” Law yelled, while Kid and Luffy sheepishly looked away.

Taking another look they could see the wires were no longer in place. Down the shift, was another floor below but the darkness kept them from seeing anything too clearly. 

“Did this place always have another floor?” Law asked. “I don’t know,” Kid and Luffy both shrugged. Law grimaced. He couldn’t remember Robin ever mentioned a basement before in the library, “There has to be another way to access it.” 

Searching through the library, Law walked trying to find a back door of some sorts that could lead to a stairwell. He spotted large double doors near the front of the library to the far right. 

“Is this even open?” Hancock asked before attempting to open it herself. At first the door didn’t budge and Law briefly feared another contest from Luffy and Kid would begin when Hancock raised her leg and slammed it hard against the door, breaking it open. 

Kid and Law both paled visibly at the sheer, raw strength she displayed while Luffy said, “Wow Hammock! Thanks for opening it!” 

Hancock blushed and babbled something before Law went inside first, running slightly down the stairwell with Luffy and the others not too far behind. Luckily it was only one flight of stairs downward and they reached the basement floor. Law opened the door to enter the basement when he was hit with a nauseating smell. 

Walking through it, the group covered their noses entering inside, beginning to feel sick at the thought of what could be inside. Someone, most likely Kid, Law wasn’t too sure, turned on the light to the horrible sight in front of them. 

The wreckage of the broken elevator was on full display as the doors to the basement weren’t even closed to begin with. Blood splattered the floor directly in front of it. The debri and metal box had crushed inwardly, leaving only an arm and a leg sticking out limply. 

A small thin arm and a small thin leg. 

The doorbell sound rang through the room. 

“A body has been discovered!” Caesar’s cackling voice blared, “Please meet at the basement of the library for further instructions!” 

Part of Law wanted to scream. 

Each breath he took filled his lungs were the stench of Chopper’s dead body. He could feel his throat closing up at the taste. 

_ Why Chopper? Why pick Chopper? He didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t do anything! _ Law screamed in his mind. 

Being so distraught by his own body breaking down, Law barely noticed Luffy had begun to breathe in and out a lot faster than what was normal. Law immediately recognized what was beginning to happen. 

“Mugiwara-ya, don’t look over there,” Law said, placing himself directly in front of Luffy. 

Luffy was hyperventilating, he shook so bad that Law wasn’t sure how his body was still standing. Luffy muttered things under his breath but nothing that could be understood. Luffy’s eyes remained wide and opened but stared at nothing even with Law looking directly at him. 

“He needs to leave this room,” Law said to the other two who stood to the side, not knowing what to do. Quite honestly, Law wasn’t exactly sure either but he knew only some things he could do. 

“I’m taking him outside for air, we’ll be back,” Law said before dragging Luffy along back out the basement and up the stairwell, farther and farther away from the dreadful smell. 

That’s what Luffy had been smelling since the beginning. But with that knowledge, Law couldn’t help but feel sick at the thought of them wandering around it unknowingly. The two made it outside the library but Luffy still couldn’t get too much of a hold over his breathing. The two ended up sitting on the side of the dirt road, to the left of the staircase to get inside the library. Luffy listened to Law finally, taking in breaths much easier and slower than before. The clean forest air helped a lot in that aspect. 

Luffy hugged his knees close to his chest and buried his face in his arms after feeling a bit better. 

Thinking back, Law realized that Luffy had been the first one to see Ace before the bomb. He had the clearest memory of him and it was certainly still stuck deep in his mind. More than likely resurfacing right now from the smell and sight of Chopper’s arm and leg. 

“Take all the time you need,” Law whispered, his legs also resting near his chest like Luffy. But Law was nowhere near as curled up in on himself like Luffy was. Luffy appeared to be trying to hide his whole existence away from how tense he was. 

_ I really could use a smoke right now, _ Law thought before he could stop himself. He had smoked before, but that was a long time ago when he still went through many sessions of therapy a week and had promptly buried himself in work to distract himself. Cora-san had gotten absolutely furious with him and it was their first real fight they had with each other. Eventually Law caved when he realized what he was doing and snapped himself out of it for good. 

He couldn’t bring himself to worry Cora-san like that. Not after all he had done for him. 

Even if Law could get a hold of something, he would downright refuse it after remembering the terrible memories and guilt. 

“Oi Law!” Sanji called out, down the dirt path, pushing Zoro in front of him now. Zoro’s annoyed expression faded when he caught sight of Law sitting on the side of the path. Law wasn’t sure what kind of expression he wore himself but Zoro’s became grave in an instant. 

Sanji opened his mouth to speak again but closed it, face dropping. Zoro said something only loud enough for Sanji to hear and the two silently walked up the steps, not giving another a glance towards Law and Luffy.

To avoid any other questions, Law motioned Luffy to follow him behind the stairs to remain unseen. It was better not to get asked any questions right now by the others passing by. 

“Torao … I can’t go back in there,” Luffy said quietly. 

“You don’t have too.” Law said simply, “Do you need anything?” 

Luffy shook his head, face still buried in his arms. 

“Do you want anything?” Law asked, rephrasing his previous question. 

“Meat,” Luffy answered, getting a chuckle out of Law. 

“That’s the one thing, I cannot do for you.”

“So anything else is fine?” 

Law didn’t think too much about it when he replied, “Yes,” 

The movement was too quick for Law to catch, a large mass suddenly tackled him, making almost fall on his back to the ground. Law caught himself and the weight of Luffy, who had taken it upon himself to (attack) hug Law without warning. Law could feel his shirt becoming wet but didn’t mind as much as the crushing grip Luffy had on him. 

_ What the hell did they feed this kid?! _ Law thought to himself but didn’t move to push Luffy away. Law slowly became less tense as Luffy lessened his grip slowly, letting his chin rest on Luffy’s messy, black hair. 

Voice of the others walking down the path could be heard coming near them. It sounds like Nami and Vivi were in the group. Luffy didn’t seem to care in the slightest at this. Law just kept quiet while he heard the others pass through, voicing their worries along the way. 

The two remained like that for a bit longer when Law began to hear a slight snore which snapped his attention. He nudged Luffy a bit, “Hey, don’t fall asleep on me. Especially not outside …” 

“I’m tired though,” Luffy said, lifting his head to show his slightly puffy, red eyes. 

“I think Boa-ya will help you fine,” Law said, looking back over his shoulder to see if anyone else was coming from the dirt path. Law turned back to Luffy who seemed to wear an indifferent expression. 

“Are you fine with that?” 

“Y- yeah,” Luffy said with a somewhat forced smile, not looking Law in the eyes. 

“It’s not that I’m trying to get away from you, Mugiwara-ya. I need too … I need to get something done in there,” Law said carefully. 

Despite the sinking feeling in his stomach. 

Despite the looming memories of the night when Chopper left. 

Despite the massive guilt that racked Law’s body for constantly refusing Chopper’s offer to watch Luffy.

They remained in a killing game. And this game rides on all of them figuring out what happened and who killed Chopper. There was somewhat of a body this time, and Chopper couldn’t exactly offer his help this time around. Law knew he was going to have to inspect it this time. 

“Oh … right,” Luffy said, “I’m feeling alright now, so you can go ahead.” Law gave a look to Luffy but then decided to take his word for it. After all, Luffy didn’t tend to do things he didn’t want too. 

Standing up from their spot, Law immediately got spotted by Bonney who yelled out his name. Robin and Bonney were the only two there but it didn’t make him feel any better. Law hid his surprise to avoid suspicion, “Jewelry-ya,” 

“Did you go inside already?” she asked, “Is-” 

“Let’s talk about this inside,” Law said quickly, going up the steps ahead of them. Bonney looked a bit taken aback but said nothing, only narrowed her eyes slightly at him. 

_ Please do not let him have another attack while I’m gone, _ Law begged to no one in particular as they climbed down the stairs to the bottom. 

“Shit! Do we really have to be in this room!?” 

Law could hear Nami yell from the otherside of the door to the basement. He hadn’t even needed to open it before he could hear Caesar’s bored response. 

“It’s an investigation, unless you don’t want to do that and go straight to the trial?” Caesar asked then took a look over to Law, Robin, and Bonney who just entered the room, “Ah, this isn’t everyone though,” 

Taking a look, Law could see that Shirahoshi, Carrot, and obviously Luffy weren’t present yet. It made sense given those two stayed at the hotel. Law walked over to Hancock who hadn’t taken her eyes off him since he entered. 

“How is he?” she asked in almost a whisper, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Can you please stay with him outside?” Law asked in a hushed tone. He didn’t need everyone hearing everything at the moment. “I need to be in here but there’s no chance he can come in here right now.” 

Hancock nodded immediately, and took her leave out the door as quickly as she could. 

“Wait, you can’t just leave!” Caesar called out but Hancock already was out the door. 

“They’ve seen the body, isn’t that enough?” Law spoke up, bothered how everyone’s attention had been drawn to them. Caesar made a scrunched up expression towards him before rolling his eyes dramatically, “Whatever, but everyone else has to be here!” 

At this point, Law finally could take in the rest of the room. Vivi sobbed into Nami’s shirt, while Nami herself trembled, unable to tear her eyes away from the wreckage. Zoro’s stoic expression had even cracked, his eyes reddening but not quite crying. Usopp hugged himself, his body shaking while Sanji paced back and forth, occasionally moving his sleeve to rid the tears streaming down his face. It was hard to tell how Killer felt with his mask on, he stood by Kid who only scanned the room suspiciously. 

One glance at Robin, Law feared she’d break down at any moment. Out of everyone, Robin could be considered the closest to Chopper. Sticking by him since the beginning, showing interest in each other’s fields. She was now the last known person to see him alive. 

To be honest, Law avoided looking over at the corpse that remained trapped in the wreckage. Observing everyone else helped him to try and ignore the emotions flooding his mind. He needed to remain focused. 

Finally, Shirahoshi and Carrot came down from the stairs. Immediately Shirahoshi burst into tears and hid herself behind Carrot who wore a horrified expression at the sight. 

“Now that everyone is finally here,” Caesar announced, completely unbothered by the tension in the room, “We have your second murder to solve at last! I was wondering when any of you were going to find the body. God, you all took forever,” 

Glares shot back at Caesar. 

“Chopper didn’t deserve this! How can you be so detached from this?!” Usopp yelled out first. 

“Not my fault he died,” Caesar sneered, “One of you did it anyways,” 

“No, … there’s no way any of us here would do that!” Carrot exclaimed. 

“No one could be that cruel…” Nami said, voice a bit shaky. 

“Doesn’t matter what you all think. You all just think it’s you, you, you, when in reality, you’re just the drop in the ocean!” Caesar boasted, “

Zoro moved forward, glaring down Caesar when Sanji noticed and pushed his hand on his chest, “Marimo no! It’s not worth it.” Zoro didn’t look at him, only tried to stare down Caesar in rage. 

“He’s right it really isn’t,” Caesar said smugly, “Well unless you all fail and all die. In that case, you all will receive your new SMILE file. All information that points to the killer is removed of course,” 

Law picked up the handbook from his pocket, looking at the new file. Seeing the profile of Chopper being pulled up only made his heart clench. Chopper had a proud smile on his face that was covered by the bolded, red words, reading ‘DECEASED.’ 

“Good luck to all of you! I’m excited to see what you all can come up with for this one!” Caesar cackled before taking his leave in a puff of purple smoke. 

“I can’t stay in here,” Shirahoshi said, “The smell and the blood I …” She ran out the room crying with Carrot following behind her. Carrot sniffled and hid her face while they left.

Law drew in a shaky breath. He could see everyone else was uncomfortable just by staying in the room. “Anyone who isn’t comfortable searching here is free to leave.” Law spoke up, “I need to stay here anyways,” 

Law had barely finished his sentence when everyone began to promptly leave the room. Law walked past them, grave faces on everyone as he made his way directly towards the wreckage. The same area where the air remained at its most pungent. The smell caused Law’s nose to wrinkle at it and become uncomfortable as he got closer. 

Instead of investigating the body straight away, he took a look at the file given to them. 

Chopper’s time of death hadn’t been listed. 

The cause of death: Drowning. 

Taking a look at the injuries list, there were two accounts of blunt force trauma to the back of the head. The object that was used was left unknown. 

He knelt next to the wreckage, able to see the shoe on Chopper’s foot that had some dried mud on the bottom of the shoe. The blood wasn’t pooling beneath them, telling Law that the body had been dead for at least a day. The blisters that were forming along Chopper’s barely visible arm could be seen. Law reached out carefully to hold the arm, noticing the swelling process of the decaying body had begun. 

The rest of the wreckage left everything unobservable. 

Law grimaced at this. 

Part of him didn’t want to even attempt to look under, but the other part of him told him that missing even one clue could mean life or death here. 

Reluctantly, Law turned to see if Zoro or Sanji had stayed behind only to see it was just him and Kid that remained in the room. Everyone else had taken their leave and Law couldn’t blame them. 

“Do you need help?” Kid asked, uncrossing his arms. 

“I need to get some of this off. Are you fine with that?” Law asked, “I’ll lift from the other side.” 

“No need,” Kid said, pushing past him. He lifted a giant metal part off the top. Law couldn’t be too sure what it was, but it had the wires connected to it as Kid threw it outside of the elevator shaft. 

“That thing caused the second crash we heard. It’s used to hold the wires from the top. Must have snapped off right after the whole car yanked it down.” Kid explained. 

That’s right, he’s the engineer, Law thought. 

“The body moved during the fall, that’s the only reason we can see it in the first place.” Kid said, “Lifting the crushed roof is going to be a bit easier, now that thing is off.” 

Law stood back and watched him move parts of the metal slowly off the body. 

“Wait,” Law said, “Just hold it there.” 

Kid, despite his claim, began to sweat at holding up a particular heavy part up. Law had stopped him because he actually was able to get a good view of the body. Law had never seen a crushed body before this and found it to be very distracting as he searched for clues beneath it. He could spot that Chopper had kept his same hat and wore the same clothes from that last he went missing. His pouch remained nowhere to be seen, but off in the back of the body, Law could see something reflect in his eyes. 

The metal part that Kid held began to drop slightly and he huffed trying to keep it up as long as he could. “Could you … maybe … hurry up a bit?” Kid wheezed. 

Law moved quickly, resting one hand in a bit of blood while the other reached far to grab the object. As soon as he had a grip on it, Law pulled away fast. Kid dropped the metal piece not two seconds after and heaved in and out heavily. 

Law stayed focused on the object, Chopper’s handbook that had been smashed to pieces. 

“Anything?” Kid asked, catching his breath. 

“He’s still wearing the same clothes we saw him last. He must at least have been dead for a whole day. My guess it’s nearing two. And well …” Law held the disfigured handbook in his hands, with pieces falling off. 

“You don’t look the least bit bothered by this,” Kid moved to cross his arms before realizing that blood still remained on them. 

“I could say the same for you,” Law said. 

“Yeah, but you were a hell of a lot closer to him right?” Kid asked. 

“I was. But focusing on that will get us nowhere. As a doctor, surgeon, whatever, you have to learn to detach yourself.” Law said simply, “Otherwise you can’t do your job correctly.” 

“Sounds about right,” Kid shrugged, “In general I think everyone else is having a hard time trying to do that.” Law raised an eyebrow, “You don’t seem to have a problem with that.” 

“Nah, not really.” Kid said. 

Law ignored his lingering questions in favor of looking around the room. He placed the handbook down and started to walk out the room. 

“Wait, where are we going?” Kid asked. Law ignored the ‘we’ part and answered, “The second floor. The body had to be put inside the elevator through somewhere.” 

The two walked up the steps but not before Law looked at the door for the first floor. It hadn’t opened very easily when they had gotten there. 

“Ah, so this is what Boa-ya broke down.” Law said, picking up a piece of a broken metal on the floor. The other half could be seen as it had been snapped in half. “Someone tried to block access to the stairwell.” 

“Well then how did they get back down here?” Kid asked, looking over Law’s shoulder. 

“Never expected you to ask a relevant question,” Law commented. 

“Oi,” Kid scowled. 

“We can check at the top I believe,” Law said, moving up the stairs. Getting to the second floor, Law was able to look over the balcony to where one could see the rows of books below on the first floor. But it was a bit too far to jump. 

“You can’t jump but if you try, you can certainly climb down from it.” Law said. The floor was just low enough to where most of anyone could place a foot on the shelves and climb down from there.

Law turned back and looked at the surroundings of the elevator. The door didn’t have caution tape on it, but Law tested the doors by pressing the button. The doors opened but obviously no car came upwards. 

Walking along the railing, Law looked around through the piles of books. But behind one of them, Law could spot something white. A closer look and one could see it was stuffed deep beneath the pile of books. Pulling at the white fabric, Law yanked more and more to reveal a large, while blanket that had many patches, covered in dried mud. 

“A white sheet?” Kid asked. 

“From the looks of it, someone tried to hide it.” Law said before looking down, “Shit, I got blood on it. We should leave to wash our hands before anything else.” “No blood was on it before right?” Kid asked. “No,” Law answered as they left back down to the first floor. 

They strode out of the library and part of Law casually looked over to see if Luffy had stayed in the spot they were beforehand. Seeing an empty space, Law sighed and scolded himself for being distracted. 

“We can wash our hands at the sauna area,” Kid said. Law only nodded as they made their way to the building. 

The closer they got to the sauna, the clearer Law and Kid could hear the argument between Zoro and Sanji rise. They didn’t even have to enter the sauna and just stood outside of it, hearing the shouts back and forth. 

“Are they going to do this the entire time,” Kid groaned, placing his handbook on the scanner. The door opened but Kid stopped Law right before he could enter “Wait, you have to scan yours too.” 

“You already scanned it?” Law asked. 

“Unless you wanna get shot by that thing.” Kid pointed at the slime gun that was aimed towards the door on the side of the building, “We all had to do it the night of the sauna. It’s a big pain in the ass,” 

Law sighed and took out his to be scanned. Once green, Law was able to step inside where the fighting was it’s loudest. 

Law took in the otherwise peaceful building around them. The inside had white walls and oratments with brown, oak wood accents. There were a stack of fluffy towels, different scents on display that could be used, and a sign that showed a room to be a massage room. The carpeted floor was pristine white, Law and Kid had to remove their shoes before stepping on it. The amount of care and cleanliness the inside gave off, expressed just how taken care of it had been. 

Just in front of the exit to the hot springs were Zoro and Sanji arguing directly in each other’s faces. Only this time, they were taking this fight very seriously. 

“You can’t just say that she’s telling the truth!” Zoro yelled. 

“Well then you can’t just say she’s lying!” Sanji yelled back angrily, “She’s obviously the most distraught out of all of us! How could you accuse her of killing Chopper!” 

“You can’t just deny that there’s no suspicion on her,” Zoro growled at Sanji, “Chopper never came here and Ms. Nico is claiming that he did. Unless you  _ somehow _ saw differently on that night.” 

“I didn’t see Chopper, but-!” 

“Zoro’s right,” Kid interjected, “She’s caught in a lie. Of course, the most suspicion would be thrown on her.” 

Law glared at Kid for that comment and added, “Sanji-ya’s right as well. We can’t go throwing around accusations so fast. There needs to be evidence to back it up. Going solely based off of words leads to fights like this,” 

Law turned his back to the rest and began his search through the drawers and cabinets in the sauna house. 

“You see!” Sanji exclaimed, “You’re also ignoring the other stuff that was given on this stupid file. Chopper was drowned. And there’s only one place that could happen” 

The four turned their heads towards the hot springs that laid just at the back of the sauna house. 

Zoro sighed in exasperation, “So you’re putting this on one of the guys?” “Hold on-!” Kid started when Law snapped at everyone. 

“Stop it. The tensions are too high right now. Save it for the damn trial. We’re wasting energy discussing when there are more clues that can be found.” Law said, throwing a look towards the three other men. 

The three slunked at this and decided to move around and look through the sauna’s items as well. Law’s shoulders loosened at the peace and quiet that fell between them. 

Law and Kid went and washed their hands then continued their search. Law caught the sublet looks that were thrown from Sanji and Zoro, clearly concerned about the blood on both their hands. 

Drawer after drawer, Law opened but nothing that caught his eye could be found. He even went outside to the hot springs where it had a lavish display of rocks and mini waterfalls inside the spring. Walking along the side of the water, nothing notable was found inside or around it. 

Law’s leg shook a bit as he stared down at his reflection in the hot springs. He hoped that maybe they would be able to find some more evidence at Chopper’s room. But other than that place, Law had no idea where else to look. 

Hesitantly, Law walked back inside the sauna ‘s building where Zoro and Sanji held a much more civil conversation with one another. Although it seemed like they exchanged just a few words under their breath. 

“Find anything?” Kid asked. Law shook his head with a grim expression, “The only other area to look is Chopper’s room.” Kid turned to leave, “Well let’s go then.” 

On their way over to the hospital, they passed by some of the others who were searching the forest area somewhat. It took a bit before they reached the hotel with Law stuck trying to put the pieces he had available to him in his head. 

“You and Mugiwara stay at the hospital all night right?” Kid asked as they reached the entrance to the hotel. Law eyed him as he replied, “Yes, he had to be monitored during the night. Most of the time either of us take a while to go to sleep.” 

When Kid didn’t add anything else, Law narrowed his eyes towards him, “Why are you asking?” 

“No, no, save it for the trial right?” Kid said with a smug look that only grew Law’s irritation. 

Law attempted to close him out of the elevator after that but failed and the two went up to the boy’s level. The door to Chopper’s room had stayed closed and the two were able to walk in without any trouble from a lock. 

Still on the desk, Law could see the pouch from Chopper was left on the chair. His hands picked through some of the material Chopper had gathered from both the library and the hospital center. A lump formed in Law’s throat, he forced himself away and to focus on the rest of the room that remained. 

He walked into the adjoined bathroom, at first not seeing anything noteworthy. Law knelt down, resting his knees on the hard tile and leaned to look under the sink next to the shower and tub. He picked up and moved very tiny bits and pieces of black and clear glass from the bottom. 

“What is it?” Kid asked, behind him. Law picked himself up, “Some pieces of glass,” He showed them to Kid but he didn’t look too impressed by it. 

Law grew frustrated and put the pieces back down and walked out the bathroom. 

Walking to the bed, Law lifted the made sheets to see one of the two bed sheets were missing.

“Do you need to sit down?” Kid asked, looking concerned. Law had begun to pace a bit in the room, trying to put the pieces together. 

“I just …” Law said before asking, “Do you have any idea what this means?” Kid paused, “Like … the glass?” Law gave a look of annoyance, “Partly … but there’s little to nothing to go off of. It was nighttime so witness accounts are basically nonexistent.” 

“So you’re freaking out … cause you don’t have an idea of who is it?” Kid asked. 

Law threw a glare before sarcastically answering, “No, whatever gave you that impression?” 

Kid threw his head back in laughter while Law gave a disgruntled expression. 

“No, it’s funny cause last time everyone else had no idea either. Then you gave your fancy explanation and solved it. Now you’re in the same boat as all of us,” Kid laughed. 

“You’re a fucking weird one,” Law muttered under his breath, “This isn’t some joke.” 

“It’s not, but it’s fun to see you riled up like that,” Kid said, “For once Trafalgar doesn’t know something.” 

A loud doorbell noise rang through the hotel. The tv inside the room turned on showing Caesar lounging about as he announced, “Alright, let’s get this show over with. All students come to the front of the hotel’s entrance for the class trial immediately! Hope you’re all well prepared for this one!” 

The tv screen flicked off, leaving a stunned Kid and Law. 

“That was a lot faster than last time right?” Kid asked Law. 

“We’re fucked,” Law muttered with wide eyes. 

The two left the room in not much of a hurry. They walked out the exit of the hotel only to see a few others there already waiting in front of the large cement elevator that had already popped from the ground. The sight of it already made Law feel slightly sick to his stomach. 

Luffy also was there along with Hancock who seemed even more doting towards him than she had before. Law stayed off to the side, moving slightly away from Kid and more towards Luffy. Still he stood not that close to Luffy. 

Law could hear some of the conversations around them as they came in. 

“What’s wrong with your hand Carrot?” Shirahoshi asked. “I think I sprained it? Twisted it? Can’t tell,” Carrot pouted before laughing, “I think one of the little guys pulled a bit too hard,” 

“You have to be more careful,” Hancock said, with a slightly concerned expression. 

The pieces and clues that they had found swirled in Law’s head. There were conclusions he came too that just didn’t make sense. Obviously there were missing pieces, not everyone was giving up everything that they knew. He could only hope the discussion in the trial could reveal some more information. Maybe that could help click everything into place. ANy pieces that Law could think to fit together wouldn’t match up with the others. 

Law groaned inwardly. Not even Luffy’s and Bonney’s tactic of a ‘gut feeling’ wasn’t working. No one gave off any signs of guilt. Was it another sucide? Through drowning? Highly unlikely. The blunt force to the back of the head made that even more unlikely. So someone here was indeed responsible for this. But who could have the heart to-

A hand rested on Law’s shoulder, nearly making him jump in surprise. Instead it snapped him out of his thoughts to see Luffy staring up at him. 

“We’re going to be fine Torao,” Luffy grinned. 

“I don’t know about this time Mugiwara-ya,” Law muttered. 

“But you figured it out last time right?”

“That was different … I had an idea beforehand. Right now…” Law trailed off, “I don’t have a clue.”

A pause fell between them as Luffy looked up to think before lighting up and asking, “Do you want to know who I think it is?” 

The statement was unexpected, making Law highly speculative about it, “Let me guess. This is another gut feeling?” 

Luffy nodded a bit too proudly at this. 

He sighed, “Alright,” 

Law leaned down while Luffy cupped his hands to whisper the name to Law. Immediately Law pulled away. 

“Why-” 

“You may now enter inside!” Caesar’s voice announced gleefully, “Prepare yourselves for the second classroom trial!” 

The concert elevator’s doors opened with a loud groan. The students reluctantly piled into the elevator. Taking a look around, Law noticed how their numbers had diminished so fast. It has only been thirteen days. 

Thirteen days and three out of the seventeen were gone. 

Soon, one more may even leave by tonight. 

Or all but one will remain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to make sure things are consistent with the trials, I actually want them to make sense and not just thrown together. So sorry if it's taking a bit longer to update!
> 
> And exploring Luffy's trauma here is very difficult to do, but I want to make sure there's some actual growth in there. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
